In this video, concussion survivor and coach David Brimacombe explains why persistent post‑concussion syndrome (PCS) symptoms often stem from an over‑reactive autonomic nervous system (ANS) rather than a broken one. He describes how, after a concussion, the body treats many everyday stimuli as threats, causing the sympathetic (stress) branch to dominate and leading to sensations such as irritability, anxiety, and a racing heart. Brimacombe emphasizes that recovery is a continuum: progress can be measured in tiny, incremental wins and improved self‑awareness, not just the disappearance of symptoms. He clarifies that both sympathetic and parasympathetic states are necessary, but post‑concussion the system can become stuck in the sympathetic mode. To help the ANS shift, he teaches simple breathing techniques—elongating exhalations to promote parasympathetic activation, or lengthening inhalations to boost alertness when stuck in a parasympathetic lull. He cautions against over‑using either technique, recommending brief practice sets and attentive listening to one’s own physiological cues. Ultimately, Brimacombe frames healing as gaining a better understanding of one’s symptoms, which guides future recovery actions, and encourages a long‑term, hopeful mindset that healing takes time but is achievable.
Chapters
If your nervous system feels fragile, reactive, or broken, hear this first: it may be working too well and not failing you. By the end of this video, you'll understand why your PCS symptoms persist and why your nervous system is so overreactive. Hi, my name is David Brimacombe, and after 20 years and 7 concussions, I learned a lot about concussion recovery, specifically the lifestyle modifications like nervous system regulation required to improve. What if recovery doesn't mean eliminating every single symptom? What if feeling more was actually a sign that you were healing and not falling further into your recovery? Now, Understand this, that after a concussion, your body senses almost everything as a threat. It feels the danger in almost every situation. Lights, sounds, any kind of stressors responds to your body as a threat, and therefore your nervous system tends to overcompensate. Now, this might look like for you irritability, anxiety, Um, it might feel like your body, your heart is going to beat out of your chest. For me, that was— those were the main sensations. It honestly felt like my heart was going to explode, but that's because it was working too well. It was overcompensating for a danger that wasn't really there. Understand that healing lies on a continuum. You are not either healed Now, this goes for anyone. It doesn't— it isn't specific to those with PCOS. You can still have symptoms and be improving. I like to say that progress is progress. It doesn't matter how small or seemingly insignificant your changes are. If you are making gains in the right direction, that is good. You could have had PCOS for weeks, months, or even years. So to think that you're going to change overnight, okay, would be unlikely. So what we need to do is we need to understand where we came from and where we're going. Think about the small wins you have in your, in your day. Was I more reactive last week than I am this week? Have I made any significant gains in my symptoms? Okay, that is the key here. The thing about your autonomic nervous system is it's your body's ability to adjust to any given situation. Now, it is never right to say that we should— that being in a sympathetic or a stress state is bad, or overuse of a parasympathetic, the rest and digest state, is better, because your body has those 2 different dials on the system for a reason. When you are studying for a test, you're focused on driving, when it requires your body's attention You need to be in a sympathetic state. Okay, same thing applies if you're ready to eat, you're ready to go to bed, you're relaxing. Parasympathetic state is the more desirable of the two. But herein lies the problem. Post-concussion, your body gets stuck. Okay, it gets stuck typically on the sympathetic side. So you're stuck in that state. Your body isn't able to regulate in and out of— you're strung out. You feel like any little imperfection in your day is going to throw you over the edge. Okay? Your body needs to tone down. You need to drop your heart rate, your breath rate, so that your body can understand that you are safe and that you can get into the parasympathetic state. So, easiest way to do that is to elongate your exhales. Simply just breathe in like you normally would and then have an exhale that is 2 to 3 times longer than your inhale. That's telling your body it's safe. It's going to drop your heart rate and therefore bring you slowly into the parasympathetic state. Now, for those stuck in the parasympathetic state, again, some mornings you get up, you feel like you have nothing. You feel completely like a zombie. Now, you can go the other direction. You can actually extend the inhale and lessen your exhale. That way, you're actually going to speed up your heart rate and tell your body it's time to be alert. Again, be careful doing this too much because your body is at a state of dysregulation. Okay, it's not quite sure where to go from the sympathetic to the parasympathetic. So try this, maybe 1 or 2 sets, and see how you feel. Understand that recovery doesn't mean that I'm fully healed. Recovery means I have a better understanding of my symptoms, to be able to understand that when my heart rate quickens, I know I'm probably Stuck in that stress state. Therefore, I can extend my exhales and drop me into the parasympathetic. That is self-awareness. That self-awareness is a sign that you're healing. Even if you don't feel like your symptoms are improving, your intuition has improved, and therefore your understanding of what you need to do will help you improve later on. Now, the wins don't always come right when you think they're going to. So a small win of being able to understand your symptoms will allow you to be more successful later on. So this is what I want to leave you with today, okay? I want to leave you with a concept that healing is not as obvious as it seems. Healing does not mean a resolution of symptoms. Sometimes it means a better understanding of your symptoms, and that understanding will allow you to heal in the future. This is the long game we're playing. This is not a wake up, feel great proposition. This is a wake up, do a few things later on, and eventually you'll get to the point where you feel like yourself again. This takes time. It is simple, but not easy, but there is hope. Your brain is not broken. There are so many things you can do to feel better. Now, if you wanna watch a video up above, it talks about the 5 messy signs of ANS recovery. It does a great job of breaking those down. That would be a great link if you are done watching this. Now, I appreciate your time and your support of this channel. Thanks for watching to the end, and remember, you are healing even in small steps. Have a great day.
