09/03/2025
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Is there anything better in this world than helping another human?!?
I had the privilege of working with Mardi for 4 consecutive days. She has been struggling with post concussion syndrome, PPPD, and Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) for years now.
❓What is FND? Functional Neurological Diorder is a condition where a person experiences neurological symptoms—such as weakness, movement problems, sensory changes, or seizures—that look like they’re caused by a disease of the nervous system (like stroke, multiple sclerosis, or epilepsy), but no structural damage or disease process can be found to explain them. Instead, the problem lies in how the nervous system is functioning, not in its anatomy.
Think of it as a “software” issue rather than a “hardware” problem: the brain and nerves are intact, but the way signals are being processed or transmitted is disrupted.
Common Symptoms of FND
• Motor symptoms: limb weakness, paralysis, tremor, abnormal movements, gait problems
• Sensory symptoms: numbness, tingling, loss of vision, hearing changes
• Seizure-like episodes (called psychogenic nonepileptic seizures, PNES)
• Speech and swallowing problems
• Cognitive symptoms: brain fog, poor concentration.
❓What is PPPD? PPPD stands for Persistent Postural-Perceptual Dizziness.
It’s a chronic dizziness condition where people feel unsteady, off-balance, or in constant motion—even though they’re not actually moving. It’s not caused by damage to the inner ear or brain structures, but rather by how the brain is processing balance and motion signals.
Core Features of PPPD
• Chronic dizziness/unsteadiness lasting >3 months
• Symptoms are usually worse when upright (standing, walking)
• Often triggered or aggravated by:
• Complex visual environments (e.g., grocery stores, scrolling on a phone, crowds)
• Movement (their own or things moving around them)
• Fatigue, stress, or anxiety
• Patients describe it as: rocking, swaying, or floating rather than spinning vertigo
How It Develops
• Often starts after an acute event like:
• A vestibular disorder (e.g., BPPV, vestibular neuritis)
• Concussion or mild TBI
• Panic attack or anxiety episode
• Instead of the brain readapting fully, it gets “stuck” in a hypervigilant state, relying too much on vision and not integrating balance correctly.
It’s similar in concept to functional neurological disorder (FND) in that the “hardware” (inner ear, brain) is intact, but the software (signal processing) is misfiring.
🙌🏼 Gratefull to be a Carrick trained Funtional Neurologist. 🙌🏼
❤️ I LOVE my job! ❤️
