s

Concussions & Concussion Treatments

concussion treatment, long term concussion treatment, & severe concussion treatment.

A “bell ringer”, “seeing stars”, “knocked silly”, and any jolt where you just “need a sec” to get your head on straight can be considered a concussion. A concussion is a type of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or by a hit to the body that causes the head to move quickly in one direction then rebound in another. This fast change of direction can cause the brain to bounce around or twist in the skull. This motion puts tension or stretch (microtrauma) on the nerve cells and tissues that make up the brain. The body’s response of healing causes a “chemical storm” in the brain which impacts just about every function of the brain.

Most concussion symptoms resolve within 2 weeks. When symptoms last longer than 2 weeks, called protracted symptoms and referred to as post-concussion syndrome (PCS), can persist 6 months to over a year to varying degrees. The “chemical storm” happening in the brain after a concussion causes a variety of symptoms affecting eye function, causing visual disorders, changes mood/emotion, cognition, memory, balance, dizziness, sleep, nausea, sensitivities to light/sound, fatigue levels, and/or headache. As you can guess, these symptoms impact all aspects of life including school, work, and play/sport.

Not every symptom will be present after a concussion. With the wide variety of possible symptoms, every person’s experience will be just as individual as they are. Concussion symptoms can be subtle or so very not subtle. They can start right away, in a few days, or even weeks after an event. Some symptoms are easily overlooked or not understood as being symptoms. Daily activities effected by concussion symptoms can be as simple as eye fatigue with reading, symptoms with riding in a car, grocery shopping, or even just dizziness with bending down to tie your shoes. Symptoms that persist past that first couple of weeks typically can be very debilitating.

Treatment with a specially trained physical therapist starts with education about concussion and the relationship between your symptoms and activities causing symptoms. Bringing awareness to these correlations can help with bringing some amount of control over the symptoms by understanding what the triggers are. Specific “brain exercises” guided by the individual symptoms will be given as part of a home exercise program. Concussion rehabilitation can be a slow process, but guidance is key for the fastest recovery and return to a previous way of life.

Written by: Callyn Bihr, DPT, CLT

Do you need concussion treatment? CLICK HERE to request an appointment with Callyn at our Airport clinic today!

To learn more about concussions visit PT&Me