Claim OwnershipLife After Impact: The Concussion Recovery Podcast
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© 2026 Life After Impact: The Concussion Recovery Podcast
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Life After Impact: The Concussion Recovery Podcast. This podcast is the go-to podcast for actionable information to help people recover from concussions, brain injuries, and post-concussion syndrome. Dr. Ayla Wolf does a deep dive in discussing symptoms, testing methods, treatment options, and resources to help people troubleshoot where they feel stuck in their recovery. The podcast brings you interviews with top experts in the field of concussions and brain injuries, and introduces a functional neurological mindset to approaching complex cases.
For those feeling lost, hopeless, or abandoned let this podcast be your guide to living your best life after impact. Subscribe now and start your journey to recovery!
53 Episodes
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Send us Fan Mail A concussion can change your life in a second, but what happens when the people around you treat it like an excuse? Sarah Wuebbolt joins us to share what it’s really like navigating multiple concussions as a teenager while trying to keep up with school, sports, friendships, and the pressure to “be fine” on a timeline that doesn’t match reality. We talk about the first concussion that came with old-school advice to hide in a dark room, how isolation can spiral into depression...
Send us Fan Mail A childhood head-on collision. A life shaped by traumatic brain injury. A moment of waking up after a suicide attempt and deciding, with total clarity, to choose life. Cameron Scott joins me for a raw, grounded conversation about what concussion recovery can really look like when the symptoms are not just physical, but emotional, relational, and spiritual too. (This conversation includes reference to suicide. Listener discretion is advised.) We talk through the long arc: mul...
Send us Fan Mail Your brain doesn’t heal on your appointment schedule. It heals in the messy middle of real life, the mornings where you can’t think straight, the afternoons where your energy falls off a cliff, and the nights when you wonder if you’ll ever feel like yourself again. I sit down with Alex Lombardi, founder of The Brain Edit, to talk about lifestyle-based concussion recovery and post-concussion syndrome through a lens most people miss: the 23 hours a day outside the doctor’s off...
Send us Fan Mail We talk with registered dietitian Natalie Gavi about how to use simple, evidence-led nutrition to support concussion recovery and long-term brain health. We trade myths for practical steps, from Mediterranean staples to smart supplements and steady meal timing. • the acute energy mismatch after concussion and what to eat first • practical meals when appetite is low • mediterranean and MIND diet foundations • omega-3s, polyphenols, and fermented foods • pitfalls of overusing ...
Send us Fan Mail I sit down with Navy veteran and transformational trauma coach Lorna Sturchio to unpack how medically supervised ibogaine can catalyze rapid change for PTSD, addiction, and traumatic brain injury. Lorna’s story moves from combat trauma and MST to overprescription and crisis, then into carefully prepared plant medicine work that helped her taper off meds, restore sleep, and rebuild a future. Together, we demystify what ibogaine is, how it differs from ayahuasca or psilocybin, ...
Send us Fan Mail What if five minutes of the right breathing could calm a racing heart, clear morning fog, and steady your balance after a concussion? Dr. Ayla Wolf sits down with chiropractic neurologist Dr. Jonathan Chung to unpack the science and the how-to of using breath as a lever for healing. We dig into why the brainstem’s respiratory centers are vulnerable in acceleration-deceleration injuries like concussions, how dysautonomia and anxiety reshape breathing patterns, and where slow, ...
Send us Fan Mail This is Part 2 of my conversation with Nate Pope from NCX Brain Recovery. Recovery stalls when life gets smaller. We’ve all seen it: light hurts, noise overwhelms, screens drain, so routines narrow and the brain doubles down on workarounds. We open up a different route—structured, supportive challenges that reengage vision, balance, attention, and memory together. Instead of chasing one symptom at a time, we train the whole system to find easier, more efficient pathways. We ...
Send us Fan Mail Your brain isn’t broken; it’s rerouting. We sit down with neuro‑occupational therapist Nate Pope to unpack why so many people with post‑concussion syndrome get stuck despite doing “all the right therapies.” Nate explains how functional MRI reveals a network problem—under-fueled pathways and overworked compensations—and why isolated sessions can accidentally train the detours instead of restoring efficient routes. If headaches spike during vision drills or screen time wipes yo...
Send us Fan Mail What if the most powerful medicine after a brain injury is feeling truly seen? We sit down with Kyla Pearce, Senior Director of Programs and Research at the Love Your Brain foundation, to explore how connection, mind‑body practices, and practical education can restore confidence, calm, and everyday momentum for people with TBI and their caregivers. Kyla shares the story behind the foundation, launched after pro snowboarder Kevin Pearce’s traumatic brain injury, and the gap t...
Send us Fan Mail We share practical ways to enjoy the holidays while protecting a healing brain, focusing on blood sugar, hydration, sleep, and realistic boundaries. We reframe FOMO, practice gentle resets, and stack small wins so recovery feels doable and meaningful. • stabilizing blood sugar with planned meals and snacks • hydration strategies with minerals and travel tips • pre-event resets, breathing, and transition time • scouting quiet zones and setting exit plans • honoring sleep sche...
Send us Fan Mail Holidays can feel like a sensory obstacle course when you’re healing from a concussion or navigating post-concussion syndrome. We unpack a clear, compassionate plan to trade overwhelm for ease—without opting out of the moments that matter. With returning guest Chaandani Khan, we explore how to choose fewer, more meaningful events, set time limits that prevent crashes, and skip the infamous "Minnesota goodbye" by aligning expectations with your host. You’ll get practical bound...
Send us Fan Mail A faster return isn’t always a safer one. We sit down with physiotherapist Kosta Ikonomou to unpack why musculoskeletal injuries spike two to three times after a concussion and how to build a recovery plan that restores performance, not just symptom reduction. From elite level athletes to everyday patients navigating concussion rehab, Kosta shares hard-earned lessons on testing, training, and the psychology of change. Kosta is a clinical specialist physiotherapist with over a...
Send us Fan Mail If “migraine” meds aren’t touching your headaches after a concussion, you might be chasing the wrong problem. Dr. Wolf sits down with Dr. Adam Harcourt, a board-certified functional neurologist and fourth-generation chiropractor, to unpack why post-traumatic headaches so often get mislabeled as migraine—and how objective neuro exams flip the outcome. From eye movement control and gaze stabilization to neck proprioception and autonomic integrity, Dr. Harcourt explains the test...
Send us Fan Mail Do you still feel dizzy, off-balance, or disoriented months—or even years—after your concussion? You’re not imagining it. In this episode, Dr. Ayla Wolf sits down with Dr. Helena Esmonde, founder of Vestibular First and creator of the innovative infrared goggles that are changing how clinicians diagnose and treat vestibular disorders. Together, they uncover what your eye movements can reveal about your inner-ear and brain connection, why symptoms alone rarely tell the full st...
Send us Fan Mail A motorcycle crash in Ecuador set off a chain reaction Kevin Donahue couldn’t name at first: anger out of nowhere, brain fog, exhaustion, and a life that stopped making sense. When a friend connected the dots to concussion, everything changed—awareness unlocked a roadmap to real recovery. We explore how Kevin turned survival into transformation with several practical pillars: awareness, listening to his body, sharing honestly to open the doors for helpful people, eating for ...
Send us Fan Mail What if the fastest path to fewer concussions and better performance starts with how we train the neck? We sit down with physiotherapist, inventor, and researcher Dr. Theo Versteegh to unpack a novel training device that targets rapid, eccentric stabilization—the exact kind of control impact sports demand. Instead of slow, single-plane moves, his device builds rate of force development in rotational and multiplanar directions, then tracks progress with clear metrics. The resu...
Send us Fan Mail Think your “sinus headache,” tight hamstring, or random insomnia is unrelated to your head? We trace surprising symptom chains back to the nervous system and show how hidden concussions often sit at the center of stubborn pain, sleep issues, tinnitus, and gut flare‑ups. With returning guest Dr. Clayton Shiu, we unpack real cases where elbow or knee pain turned out to be brain-driven—and why delayed symptoms after a fall or car crash are more physiology than mystery. We walk ...
Send us Fan Mail What if the missing element in your health isn't another supplement or diet change, but something as fundamental as light? In this illuminating conversation, Sarah Turner reveals how our modern indoor lifestyle has created a profound deficiency in specific wavelengths of light that our bodies evolved to require. Turner, founder of CeraThrive and creator of an innovative red light therapy device, explains the fascinating science behind photobiomodulation – how red and near-in...
Send us Fan Mail Have you ever wondered why your digestion seems to have gone haywire after a concussion? You're not alone, and there's a neurological explanation behind those new food sensitivities and stomach troubles. The brain-gut connection is far more profound than most of us realize. Through the vagus nerve—a critical communication pathway—your brain and digestive system maintain constant dialogue. When a concussion disrupts this delicate system, the consequences ripple throughout you...
Send us Fan Mail The quest to understand persistent brain symptoms after concussion has puzzled doctors and researchers for decades. What happens when the brain doesn't heal as expected? Why do some patients develop long-term problems while others recover completely? Dr. Mavroudis, consultant neurologist and pioneering researcher, pulls back the curtain on these mysteries by revealing surprising connections between post-concussion syndrome, functional neurological disorders, and even long CO...
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