Concussion

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Polinder S, Cnossen MC, Real RGL, Covic A, Gorbunova A, Voormolen DC, Master CL, Haagsma JA, Diaz-Arrastia R, von Steinbuechel N. A Multidimensional Approach to Post-concussion Symptoms in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. Front Neurol. 2018 Dec 19;9:1113. doi:10.3389/fneur.2018.01113 Making your home safe. Keep your home well lit and your floors free of anything that might cause you to trip and fall. Falls around the home are a leading cause of head injury. There are some things that you may find helpful if you have been diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome: Researchers will seek to learn how to treat common symptoms of CTE, including problems with thinking, memory, mood and sleep.

If there is any suspicion of concussion, it is important to take an if in doubt, sit it out approach. Pushing on through a game can make the impact of a concussion worse. Paradoxically, doing so can jeopardise a team’s chance of success even more because the concussed player may not perform as well as normal. There is also a risk of secondary impact syndrome, by which a second incident of concussion can make the outcome much worse than if the person had sat out instead. It is important to put your health first and foremost, and your team and coach will support you with this. “My friend had a concussion and they were fine after a week. I’ll probably be fine if I get a concussion too.” Voss JD, et al. Update on the epidemiology of concussion/mild traumatic brain injury. Current Pain and Headache Reports. 2015; doi:10.1007/s11916-015-0506-z. Evans RW. Acute mild traumatic brain injury (concussion) in adults. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/search. Accessed Nov. 22, 2019.Post-concussion syndrome (PCS) is a collection of symptoms that some people develop after they have had concussion. Concussion is a brain injury that may occur after a blow to your head. Post-concussion syndrome is a complication of concussion. It is sometimes called post-concussive syndrome. The Brain's Way of Healing: Remarkable Discoveries and Recoveries from the Frontiers of Neuroplasticity Post-traumatic vertigo. Some people experience a sense of spinning or dizziness for days, weeks or months after a brain injury. Second impact syndrome. Rarely, experiencing a second concussion before signs and symptoms of a first concussion have resolved may result in rapid and usually fatal brain swelling.

Let’s say you run a multibillion-dollar football league. And let’s say the scientific community—starting with one young pathologist in Pittsburgh and growing into a chorus of neuroscientists across the country—comes to you and says concussions are making your players crazy, crazy enough to kill themselves, and here, in these slices of brain tissue, is the proof… read the article More Articles This information is for anyone who has had a mild head injury (also known as concussion or minor head injury) and their family and friends. The information will help both people in the early stages of recovery and those who experience ongoing problems. Symptoms of concussion can often be delayed in their presentation and may not manifest for several hours or even days after the incident. In the meantime, however, you remain at risk of exacerbating the initial injury to your brain with any subsequent blow to the head you receive, hence the importance of following Headway’s message of ‘if in doubt, sit it out!’. “You can return to play as soon as you feel better.” This is a common misconception. A person does not need to have lost consciousness to have experienced a concussion. In fact, less than 10% of concussions result in loss of consciousness. Following a significant impact to the head, some important signs to look out for that may indicate a concussion are confusion, dizziness and forgetfulness. “I don’t want to let my team down by being removed from play if I have a concussion.”

See our booklet Mild head injury and concussion (PDF) for more details, and our factsheet Mild head injury discharge advice (PDF) for important information after sustaining a head injury.