Dealing With Concussions – What Are the Top 3 Ways to Manage Concussions?
Concussions or injuries that shift the brain’s operations are not taken lightly. Over the last couple of years, cases from across the globe have been making the headlines. It has been beneficial because it has made people more aware of it. New and extensive research is being conducted to determine what accurate diagnosis can determine concussions and work on it to avoid severe brain damage.
It is indeed a fact that the best remedy for concussions is prevention. After diagnosis, one must follow a comprehensive concussion management checklist to recover fully. While knowing the early signs is essential, what’s also important is learning how to deal with it when someone has a concussion.
Read more about that in the following lines of the article.
Concussion – Taking an Inside Look at It,
Contents
Often termed as a ‘mild traumatic brain injury’ (mTBI), concussions result from a bu,p, violent jolt or a blow to the head. Apart from these, even if a person gets hit on the body violently enough to force the head to jerk, it disrupts normal brain functioning.
This type of sudden hit to the head causes bruises to the nerve and blood vessels. The sudden impact also affects the brain’s chemical reactions, which leads to temporary loss of brain functioning. Usually, a single concussion is not life-threatening. However, if they stay unchecked, it can lead to permanent brain damage.
The 3 Rs of Immediate Concussion Management
One needs to understand that an mTBI can happen in almost any sport or activity. Therefore, to help someone recover from it, people must follow the three Rs of immediately treating a brain injury, i.e., Recognize, Report and Recover.
Recognizing
It is crucial to know that the signs and symptoms can either appear immediately or take some hours or even a day after the injury. Some of the most common symptoms to look out for are –
- Headache
- Feeling pressure inside the head
- Dizziness
- Body-balance issues
- Abnormal vision
- Sluggish feeling
- Visible confusion
- Feeling different and startled.
In more severe cases, the injured person might not even recollect the actual event and how it happened. The wounded can also have personality changes or mood fluctuations.
Reporting
The next step after recognizing the mTBI is to report it. This means if a player in a field shows these signs and symptoms, then they must be removed from the field immediately. They need the attention of a physical trainer or a medical professional who is proficient in treating the issue. The injured person must take proper rest before getting back to the field.
Recovering
The road to recovery starts with diagnosing the person for a comprehensive evaluation. Based on that, the treatment will begin. Some of the basics of the diagnosing phase are –
- Evaluating symptoms carefully
- Conducting a neurocognitive exam on patients
- A vestibular ocular motor screening determines how severe the effects are on balance, vision, and movement.
Only after that will the medical professionals suggest ways to begin recovery.
Wrapping Up
Following an evidence-backed concussion management checklist is more than crucial when dealing with brain injuries. Recovering from a concussion is not that tough for student-athletes or anyone else if they receive proper treatment in time. If you suspect a person with mTBI, don’t forget to let a trained medical expert know.
