Can Long COVID Brain Damage Be Reversed?

brain fog concussion derealization functional neurology long covid neuroplasticity podcast

Yes, many people can recover brain function after long COVID. Long COVID can leave the brain and nervous system inflamed and damaged, a lot like a concussion. Once the inflammation is calmed down, brain-based rehab (eye exercises, nerve stimulation, hyperbaric oxygen, laser therapy, and more) can help the brain rewire through neuroplasticity. The goal is to get as close to 100% as possible. Even going from 50% to 85% can change your life.

Key takeaways

Dr. Oliver describes long COVID as a neuroimmune condition that behaves a lot like autoimmunity.

It can affect the frontal lobe, which shows up as anxiety, depression, poor focus, and mood swings.

Viral brain injury can look almost identical to a concussion.

First bring inflammation down, then rehab the brain. The two can also work together.

A therapy that "failed" may just have been the right tool at the wrong time.

My story: when my brain felt like it was melting

My husband died in July 2021. That November, my kids and I got COVID. Then came chronic infections, Epstein-Barr, and a terrifying neurological decline.

I could barely brush my teeth or follow a three-step instruction. I had panic attacks, twitches, tremors, vision loss in my left eye, and derealization (the world felt like a simulation). I thought I had Parkinson's or MS. I swung between severe anxiety and depression.

In 2022, I found Dr. Oliver. His treatments took the edge off. But I was still in the middle of an inflammatory storm, so rehab was premature. Now that my inflammation is down, I went back. This time my body is responding in a completely different way.

🎧 Listen to the full episode: Long COVID and the Brain

Meet Dr. Oliver

Dr. Oliver is a chiropractic neurologist (also called a functional neurologist) at The Neuro Clinic in Lehi, Utah, where he's practiced since 2013. He's known locally as the concussion specialist. Attorneys and doctors send him their head injury cases. These days, he says most of his new patients have long COVID.

What is long COVID doing to your brain?

Dr. Oliver explains that after COVID, some people's immune systems stay switched on and start making antibodies that attack the body. That ongoing immune activation can damage:

Blood vessel linings
The blood-brain barrier
The heart
The central nervous system, including the autonomic nervous system (think POTS and dizziness when you stand)

Long COVID isn't one thing. It's a cluster of conditions, and most people have several at once.

He also referenced research showing that long COVID can reactivate Epstein-Barr virus. That was exactly my experience.

Can long COVID cause anxiety and depression?

Yes. One area long COVID can hit is the frontal lobe, which runs focus, impulse control, decision making, and mood.

So when someone says, "I don't know where this anxiety came from," Dr. Oliver's first question is: When did you have COVID, and how did you do with it?

Too many people get told "it's just anxiety" and handed a prescription without anyone asking what triggered it.

I've seen this in my own family. On my son's brain maps (QEEGs), there's a chronic inflammation pattern. His emotional regulation seems stuck years behind his age. I used to think it was only trauma. Now I wonder how much COVID played a part.

Is long COVID like a concussion?

Dr. Oliver says the symptoms look remarkably similar. Brain fog, light and sound sensitivity, dizziness, trouble processing information. You didn't hit your head, but your brain was injured by a virus and the immune response to it.

That's good news, because there's a lot of research on concussion rehab.

Some doctors believe that once brain immune cells (glia) are activated, you can never get back to 100%. Dr. Oliver disagrees. He's seen people get all the way back. For those who can't, he asks: If we get you from 50% to 85%, would that change your life? Almost everyone says yes.

Is inflammation still running the show? Your brain can't rebuild while something underneath keeps fanning the fire. 👉 Take the free Root Causes Quiz to see where your body broke down first.

How is brain function tested at The Neuro Clinic?

Computerized balance testing, to check the vestibular system and cerebellum
Video nystagmography (VNG), goggles that track eye movements and how pupils dilate and constrict

"The eyes are the window to the nervous system." Vision uses every lobe of the brain, so eye function shows where things are breaking down.

On my test, my left pupil didn't respond like my right. For lack of a better term, my eye was lazy. And that matched what I'd been feeling for years.

What therapies help with long COVID brain fog?

Dr. Oliver uses several tools together:

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT): pressure pushes oxygen into hard-to-reach tissue and can help grow new capillaries (angiogenesis).
Low-level laser therapy (photobiomodulation): infrared light stimulates your mitochondria to make more energy (ATP).
Alpha-Stim: ear clips that deliver a gentle current. The VA has studied it for anxiety, PTSD, pain, and insomnia.
Repetitive peripheral somatosensory stimulation (RPSS): gentle stimulation of the trigeminal and vagus nerves to shift you out of fight or flight and into rest and digest.
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)
Tilt table therapy for POTS

Patients often tell him they leave feeling calm for the first time in ages.

Do eye exercises really help your brain?

They seem silly. They work.

Moving your eyes side to side activates cranial nerve 6, which sits in the "rest and digest" part of the brainstem. Fast eye jumps between targets also activate your frontal lobe. Gargling, humming, and singing stimulate your vagus nerve.

I do two minutes of eye exercises, three to five times a day. My light sensitivity has almost vanished. I have moments where there's no anxiety running through my body at all. Just stillness.

I'm starting to feel like my old self again. She's still in there.

Why do eye exercises help with light sensitivity?

Dr. Oliver explains that these exercises activate parts of the brainstem that help calm the "fight or flight" area above them. That area is often damaged in concussions, which is why light and sound feel overwhelming. Calming it can also help your pupils respond more normally.

Why do long COVID symptoms flare?

Viruses like Epstein-Barr can hang around in the body, just like chickenpox comes back as shingles under stress. When stress spikes, symptoms come back too.

So beyond rehab, Dr. Oliver emphasizes:

Managing stress
Diet and nutrition
Supportive options to discuss with your provider, like NAD, NMN, and glutathione

The more I do my brain exercises, the gentler my flares get. It's like I'm strengthening my nervous system to handle them.

Should you treat inflammation before brain rehab?

Bring inflammation down first. Rehabbing the brain in the middle of a fire is like rebuilding while the volcano is still erupting.

But Dr. Oliver agrees the two can also work together. Brain rehab may help calm the remaining inflammation.

For me, finding my immune triggers (breast implants, a root canal, cavitations, mold) is what made rehab finally work. Instead of feeling 3 to 5% better, I felt a huge jump in days.

So if a therapy didn't work for you, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. It didn't work right now. That's a data point, not a failure.

Frequently asked questions

Can brain damage from long COVID be reversed?

Many people improve significantly with brain-based rehab once inflammation is under control. The brain can rewire through neuroplasticity.

What is derealization?

It's a feeling that the world around you isn't real, like you're watching life through glass or living in a simulation. It can happen with neuroinflammation and stress.

What kind of doctor treats long COVID brain fog?

Functional neurologists, concussion specialists, and neuro-optometrists often work with long COVID brain symptoms, along with doctors who address the underlying inflammation.

How often should you do brain rehab exercises?

It depends on your plan, but short sessions done several times a day, every day, tend to work better than one long session.

Where do you start?

Calm the fire, then rebuild. That's the order. And it's why brain health sits at the very top of the Order of Healing™, with mindset, mitochondria, gut, liver, adrenals, thyroid, and sex hormones underneath it.

👉 Download the free Order of Healing™ Guide and find out what to support first.

🎧 Listen to the full episode on the Gutsy Health Podcast.

Want to see Dr. Oliver? Visit theneuroclinic.org, call 801-682-3522, or follow @neurocliniclehi on Instagram.

This post is for education only and isn't medical advice. Talk with a qualified provider before starting any new therapy.