Functional Neurological Disorder in Springfield VA

Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) is one of the most misunderstood neurological conditions in medicine.

Patients are often told:

“Your scans are normal.”
“It’s just stress.”
“There’s nothing wrong.”

Yet they experience very real symptoms — weakness, tremors, paralysis, seizures, speech difficulty, balance problems, vision changes, chronic pain, and fatigue.

At Thrive Integrative Health, we treat FND as what it truly is: a nervous system signaling disorder in Springfield VA — not a psychological failure.

And that means it can improve with the right kind of care.

---

What Is Functional Neurological Disorder?

FND occurs when the brain and nervous system lose their ability to properly send and receive signals, even though the physical structures of the brain and nerves appear normal on MRI or CT scans.

Think of it like: A computer with intact hardware but corrupted software. The wiring is there —The signals are not flowing correctly.

---

Common FND Symptoms

FND symptoms vary from person to person and can include:

• Limb weakness or paralysis
• Tremors or shaking
• Gait and balance problems
• Speech or swallowing difficulty
• Vision changes
• Seizure-like episodes (PNES)
• Brain fog
• Chronic pain
• Fatigue
• Sensory disturbances
• Loss of coordination

These symptoms are real, involuntary, and disabling — not imagined.

---

Why FND Develops

FND is often triggered by:

• Physical injury (concussion, whiplash, surgery, illness)
• Emotional or physical trauma
• Chronic pain
• Stress on the nervous system
• Inflammation
• Autonomic nervous system dysregulation

In many patients, it begins after:

• A car accident
• A fall
• Surgery
• Infection
• Or a prolonged period of physical or emotional strain

The nervous system becomes stuck in a protective survival mode.

---

Why Traditional Neurology Often Has No Answers

Standard neurology looks for:

• Tumors
• Bleeding
• Nerve damage
• Structural disease

FND is a functional problem — how the brain is operating, not how it looks.

That’s why imaging appears normal, even though the patient is not.

---

How Thrive Integrative Health Approaches FND

We don’t ask:
“Is this real?”

We ask:
“Why is the nervous system stuck — and how do we reset it?”

Your evaluation includes:

• Neurological and balance testing
• Sensory and motor integration assessment
• Cervical spine and brainstem screening
• Autonomic nervous system evaluation
• Postural and movement analysis

This allows us to identify:

• Which circuits are misfiring
• Where the nervous system is stuck
• What physical inputs are perpetuating symptoms

---

Caring for FND in Springfield VA

Our care is focused on retraining the nervous system, not suppressing symptoms.

Your plan may include:

• Neurologically-Guided Chiropractic
  Restores brain-to-body signaling through the spine and brainstem.
• Sensory & Motor Retraining
  Re-teaches the brain how to process movement and sensation.
• Balance & Vestibular Therapy
  Resets spatial and stability pathways.
• Gentle Movement Re-patterning
  Helps the brain trust the body again.
• Autonomic Nervous System Regulation
  Reduces fight-or-flight and restores normal neurological control.

---

Why FND Can Improve

FND is not progressive neurological degeneration.

It is a reversible dysfunction of the nervous system.

With the right input:

• The brain can relearn
• Circuits can reconnect
• Symptoms can fade

This is called neuroplasticity — and it is real.

You Are Not Broken
You are not weak.
You are not imagining this.
Your nervous system is stuck in survival mode.
We help it find its way back.