Concussions
By: Dr. Alyssa Clarkson | Chiropractor
A concussion is an injury to the brain that is a lot more common than people may think. Most people relate concussions to a major fall or trauma from a blow to the head. It really doesn’t take much to jostle the brain inside your skull and give concussion symptoms. People usually see concussions in sports such as boxing, football, and rugby; but they are also very common in car accidents, winter sport activities (skating, snowboarding, skiing) and falling on ice.
What is a concussion?
A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury that is typically caused by a bump, blow or jolt directly to the head. This movement causes the brain to move rapidly back and forth in your skull, leading to injury. The brain bouncing around in the skull causes chemical changes and sometimes can be damaging brain cells.
Signs & Symptoms of a Concussion
Concussion signs and symptoms usually show up shortly after the injury. You may not know just how serious the injury is for a few hours or days as some of the symptoms take a little bit of time to show up as your body starts to adjust from the injury. Symptoms should be monitored for the first week after injury and if they are getting worse, it’s important to get screened.
Observed Signs of a Concussion
- Can’t recall events prior to or after a hit or fall
- Appear dazed or stunned
- Moves clumsily, Poor balance
- Answers questions slowly
- Loses consciousness (even for a brief amount of time)
- Shows mood, behaviour or personality changes
Reported Concussion Symptoms
- Headache or head pressure
- Nausea or vomiting
- Balance problems, dizziness or double vision
- Sensitivity to light or sound
- Feeling sluggish, hazy, foggy or groggy with ‘brain fog’
- Confusion, concentration or memory problems
- “Not feeling right”
What do I do if I suspect a concussion?
After any blow or jolt to the head, you should be evaluated by a health care practitioner. If the injury occurs in a sport, no matter if consciousness was lost or not, you should be removed from play and remain out of play until you are evaluated and cleared by your health care practitioner to return to sport.
Recovering from a Concussion
Most people with a concussion feel better after a couple weeks but some symptoms may last longer, leading to post -concussive syndrome. Monitoring symptoms is how we gage when to return to school and sport should occur.
For the first couple days, it is recommended to take it easy and rest. Limit physical activity, mental activity and any activities that could put you at risk for another injury to the head or neck. You will want to avoid watching tv, going on your cell phone, or anything that it visually stimulating — screen time should be eliminated. The recommendations during this time are to get a good nights sleep and nap throughout the day to allow for healing to occur; you heal your best when you sleep!
As your symptoms start to diminish you are able to start back into light to moderate activities. The recommendation is to monitor your heart rate when exercising (talk to your health care professional to ensure what is best for you). If you are in school, return to class and school work gradually. Trial and error If symptoms do not worsen during an activity, it is ok to continue with that activity. If the symptoms worsen, cut back on the activity until it is tolerated.
When symptoms are mild or basically gone, you can return to most regular activity. You want to add in activities only as they are tolerated and it is still ok to take breaks when needed! You have recovered from a concussion when you can do all your regular activities without any symptoms.
Concussions and
Chiropractic Care
Chiropractors are health care practitioners that are trained to recognize and manage concussion signs and symptoms. We treat a lot of sports injuries, guests that were recently in a motor vehicle accident and any other guests that have fallen or injured themselves in any other way. After a thorough history and examination, we can diagnose a concussion and develop a treatment plan to help with your symptoms and recovery. Most times when a concussion occurs, there is usually whiplash that occurs as well — a soft tissue injury in the neck or upper back along with headaches. Whiplash most commonly can occur with a fall or if you are rear ended in a motor vehicle accident. If these other symptoms injuries are present, soft tissue techniques such as Active Release Technique and Graston technique, which we perform here at Kinetic Living, will help release that tension and tightness to help relieve any pain. Manual adjustments may also be performed to help with headaches and improve range of motion. In addition to the hands on treatment we provide, exercise routines and stretches will be demonstrated so you have something to do at home to speed up your recovery process.
If you or your child have experienced a head injury and would like to be evaluated, we are here to help. Click here to schedule an initial assessment, so we can help keep you moving and get you back to doing what you love!
