Why You Should Never Skip the Neck in Concussion Evaluation & Rehab.
Every patient with a concussion is a patient with a neck injury. Let me explain. A concussion results when the brain undergoes such rapid acceleration-deceleration that shearing and stretching of…
Rethinking Concussion Recovery: The Case for Active Rehabilitation Concussions are more than just a bump on the head, or “getting your bell rung”; they are a type of mild traumatic…
Introduction Appropriate concussion management is crucial for ensuring the well-being and long-term health of individuals who have experienced a mild traumatic brain injury. One aspect of concussion management that has…
How Hard is Too Hard? Examining the Forces Behind Concussive Impacts.
Introduction to Concussions A concussion (or mild traumatic brain injury) is a type of traumatic brain injury (TBI) that occurs when the brain experiences sudden movement or impact. This can…
As mentioned in our previous blog post titled What is a concussion baseline test and why is it useful, healthcare practitioners can’t rely on symptoms alone. We also know that symptoms and functional deficits may show up only after physical activity.
Remember, the safest thing that someone suffering from a concussion can do is to avoid returning to high-risk activity until they have fully recovered – this includes both from their symptoms as well as brain function. Some research studies suggest that this may take as long as 3 to 6 weeks.[1,2,3]
A handful of research studies have found that high-intensity, physical exertion, completed prior to physical and cognitive tests, can impact neurocognitive function.[4,5] As a result, the recommendation is to perform neurocognitive tests after intense, physical activity before making a return to play decision.
Why?
Because this may be a more sensitive measure of any ongoing, lingering symptoms or cognitive deficits caused by concussion.
Complete Concussion Management is even more careful in our approach. We perform our entire series of baseline tests following a very intense, physical exertion test before making a return to play clearance decision. This particular physical exertion test is used by professional hockey players, and is recommended for high risk athletes, such as those involved in hockey, football, rugby, Australian football, and gymnastics, for example.
How does physical exertion testing work?
An injured athlete goes through a physical, anaerobic interval workout. This includes stationary bike, burpees, box jumps and much more. The idea is to tire them out while also assessing their visual systems, balance systems, and cardiovascular systems. And, then run them through the series of concussion baseline tests and compare against their original scores.
The physical exertion test adds one more layer that an injured athlete must pass before returning to activity.
Simply, the idea is safety. Longer recovery and holding an athlete back to ensure they’re healthy and fully recovered before putting them at risk for suffering another concussion. These tests are an objective measure for healthcare practitioners to show athletes and parents who pressure them to provide early clearance. It’s a way to identify whether or not the brain has fully recovered. It’s a way to make safer return to play decisions.
Our goal is to ensure and help injured athletes make a full recovery before they return to play!
Complete Concussions specializes in collaborative, evidence-based concussion care. Our evidence-based training programs and integrated healthcare technologies empower multidisciplinary teams to implement standardized care for those impacted by concussions.
Our network and patient database enables large-scale research to advance concussion management, and ultimately, the long-term health and well-being of concussion patients and also teach them some concussion care at home.
We analyze leading research to develop best-in-class approaches to concussion care.