Concussion treatment guidelines
Getting a concussion is an alarming experience. Concussions can occur from a sports injury, slip-and-fall accident, or other jolt to the head. They are a type of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) that can cause long-lasting effects to the brain and body. If you experience a concussion, seek help with a medical professional right away. Learn more about concussion treatment guidelines below.
What to do immediately following a concussion
If you’ve sustained a severe jolt or blow to the head, it’s important to get evaluated by a health professional. Athletes should immediately cease playing until they can be checked by an athletic trainer onsite. Additionally injuries to the head can develop if you continue normal activities or sports before the concussion is fully healed.
You may experience a few of the following symptoms after sustaining a concussion:
- Headache
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Blurred or double vision
- Seeing stars or lights
- Difficulty balancing or feeling dizzy
- Sensitivity to light or noise
If you can, have a family member or friend drive you to a nearby hospital or urgent care. You should avoid driving, operating machinery, or being alone after your concussion since symptoms can develop even further 24-hours after initial injury.
The first few days after a concussion
Taking time to fully recover after a concussion is extremely important. Your brain has suffered a mild traumatic injury, so you may be feeling dizzy, nauseous, irritable, or anxious.
Concussions may also cause mild to extreme light sensitivity, so be sure to avoid screen time and video games. Staying as hydrated as possible while avoiding taxing activities like sports, chores, or physical fitness is also a must. It’s not only important to avoid physical activities, but mentally draining ones, as well.
Take a few days off from work, school, or any other demanding assignments. Give yourself time to rest and sleep for 8 to 10 hours per day. Check with your healthcare professional about which pain relievers might work for you, as some NSAIDs like ibuprofen can increase the risk of bleeding.
One week after a concussion
Initial symptoms typically start to improve one week after a concussion. This is when you’ll gradually start to get back to normal activities. It’s important to start slow, however. Start by introducing daily walks back into your jogging routine or pick up a physical copy of your favorite book instead of reading it on a tablet. Keep drinking plenty of water, maintain your sleep schedule of 8 to 10 hours per night, and avoid any unsafe physical activities.
Take breaks if you get tired or notice your symptoms worsening. If you don’t see an improvement within this time, check in with your healthcare professional.
Long-term treatment options
Any traumatic brain injury can leave a lasting impression. Although many symptoms dissipate within a week to a month of the initial injury, you may notice a difference in the way your brain processes information. That’s because brain injuries can have a significant impact on our cognitive functions.
After suffering from a concussion or traumatic or acute brain injury, you may experience the following:
- Fatigue
- Irritability
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Sleep issues
- Brain Fog
- Difficulty concentrating or memory issues
These issues can be addressed with the help of cognitive brain training. For more information on concussion treatment and cognitive brain training, contact The Hartman Center.
When can a concussion occur?
Concussions are considered a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). A person can get a concussion at any age, depending on the severity of the blow to their head. A concussion can also form from rapid back-and-forth movement, like from a car accident. Although they are not typically considered life-threatening, concussions can leave a lasting impression and potential life-long impairment.
The impact of a mild brain injury like a concussion can last much further than you might realize. Keep reading to discover more about the common symptoms of concussions and other brain injuries, how they can affect your life, and how to seek concussion treatment.
About Concussions and Other Brain Injuries
While some brain injuries do occur pre-birth, or are hereditary, congenital, or degenerative, concussions and other TBIs are categorized separately. This is because these types of injuries cause specific changes to the brain’s neuronal activity.
Brain injuries like concussions can happen at any time of life. For many, car accidents, sports injuries, workplace injuries, and falls are some of the most commonplace reasons. However, these types of injuries can easily occur from assault like domestic violence or abusive head trauma. It’s important to check-in with your doctor as soon as possible if head trauma has occurred.
When a concussion happens, the brain experiences rapid movement, bouncing between the hard exterior of the inside of the skull. This collision damages brain cells, leading to chemical changes and cognitive dysfunction. This can even lead to other severe symptoms like traumatic brain injury, anoxic brain injury, non-traumatic brain injury, stroke, or brain cancer. While many experience primary symptoms directly after a concussion, the brain could actually require even more time to recover fully. Recovery from a mild traumatic brain injury means full repair of damaged brain neurons and cognitive dysfunction symptoms.
How a Concussion Can Affect Your Life
The most common symptoms of a concussion are headache, nausea or vomiting, and confusion. You may feel dizzy or lightheaded, have issues balancing, or even temporarily lose consciousness. Blurred or double vision, ringing in the ears, as well as light and sound sensitivity is also common. You should see a doctor right away if you think you have sustained a concussion or brain injury.
Concussions can also have a long-term impact on your brain. You may notice problems with brain fog, memory, attention, or forgetfulness. Traumatic brain injury can also impact sleep, concentration, irritability, and worsen mood disorder symptoms. Executive function is often impacted long-term by concussions and other acute traumatic brain injuries. As a result, it’s important to address persistent cognitive deficit issues in order to make a full recovery.
Seeking Concussion Treatment
Concussion treatment options like Cognitive Brain Training are designed to remediate the long-term cognitive issues that brain injuries create. This type of treatment program utilizes a Four-Pillar Cognitive Remediation Platform specific to each patient’s cognitive processing needs. By rebuilding neurological pathways between the brain and the body, cognitive deficits and dysfunction due to brain injury are improved through capacity-building neuroplasticity for improved long-term function. Contact The Hartman Center for more information.
How to Get over Concussions Faster
Concussions happen–find out how to bounce back after a head injury.
When you find yourself dealing with a head injury, it can be a lot to take in. Head injuries are some of the most dangerous injuries that there are–but these injuries do happen. If you have recently found yourself recovering from a concussion, chances are that you want to speed up the timeline a little. While there is no “cure” for a concussion, you can take certain steps to minimize your recovery time.
Ways to Recover from a Concussion
Every head injury is different, which is part of what makes them so difficult to treat. Some people simply react to recovery differently, and there is no guarantee that anything will help you to recover more quickly. Our bodies can sometimes heal on their own terms. Even though this is the case, there are some steps that have great results when it comes to bouncing back from a concussion.
Get Plenty of Rest
There is nothing more important when recovering from an injury than getting adequate levels of rest. After you have been to the doctor, you will find that rest will become your top priority. This might disrupt your usual routine for a few days, but it can also help you to bounce back sooner rather than later. Make sure you get to bed at a reasonable hour, sleep in if you can, and don’t hesitate to take a few naps. When our bodies rest, they heal.
Eat Well and Hydrate
When it comes to healing, the only thing that matters as much as rest is what you put into your body. The foods you eat and the amount of water that you drink will give your body what it needs to recover from an injury. During this time, focus on eating plenty of healthy meals focused on high quality meats and fish, fruits and vegetables Vitamins can help your body to receive the tools that it needs to bounce back. Water is equally, if not more, important for recovery. Staying hydrated can help your body to push back against any injury or illness.
Avoid Dangerous Physical Activities
After a concussion, you will need to be more careful about what you do with your body. While one concussion is bad, hitting your head after another concussion is even worse. You want to keep your body safe and avoid any challenging activities that might drain you or put you at risk. During your recovery period, your biggest goal should be staying safe and getting plenty of rest. You can head out on an adventure once the doctor gives you the all-clear to get back to it.
Cognitive Brain Training Programs
A cognitive brain training program can help you to reset your brain and body following a concussion. This treatment focuses on helping the brain to form new neurons and connections. Following a concussion, many people feel like they aren’t quite processing the same, and this is true.
Fortunately, targeted training programs can influence frontal lobe processing for the better and help to restore the body’s overall state of function. Using cognitive training, aerobic exercise, mindfulness, and progress tracking can help you to meet your goals and recover more quickly.
The Takeaway
These general rules can help you to recover from a condition, but they are not your only option. In some cases, dedicated concussion treatments might be a better option for you. We pride ourselves on providing dedicated approaches to helping the mind and body to recover using cognitive brain training programs. If you are looking for new ways to bounce back after your most recent concussion, we would love to hear from you. Healing the mind and body is a joint effort, and some practices make it easier.