She was first at bat in her slow-pitch softball league. The pitcher wound up and sent the ball toward home plate, but something was off. The ball wasn’t going where it was supposed to. Before the athlete knew it, the side of her head was hit by the softball. Her hands went numb, her vision got blurry, and she thought she was going to be sick.

This is just one story of how some athletes get concussions. A concussion is a traumatic brain injury that results when the brain rapidly moves inside the skull. This can be due to a hard blow to the head, whiplash, or excessive shaking. As the brain is gelatinous in nature, it withstands movements on a day-to-day basis. However, a significant force change impacting the head can cause the brain to hit the walls of the skull so much that cells become damaged.

The Impact of Concussions

While concussions are considered invisible injuries, there are real and difficult symptoms. There are physical, sleep, emotional, and cognitive changes.

Physically, someone with a concussion can experience headaches, dizziness, fatigue, nausea, blurry vision, ringing in the ears, and sensitivity to light and noise. These are typically your tell-tale symptoms for concussion. In some cases, there is difficulty recalling the event of injury.

Due to the fact that it is the brain that is injured, the brain itself is working overtime to, one, heal itself, and, two, keep the rest of the body functioning properly. Fatigue is a physical symptom, but the sleep cycle is disturbed as well. Either normal sleep and wake times are altered, or there is a need for more sleep. Often, because the brain is working so hard to heal, there is typically a feeling of not being well-rested, no matter how many hours one was actually asleep.

If you know someone who has had a concussion, or if you, yourself, have had a concussion, there might have been some noticeable mood or behavior changes. Emotional changes range from heightened anxiety, or being easily irritated, or feelings of sadness or depression can arise after a concussion. These emotional changes can be minor or major, but they can grow into larger problems if left untreated.

Where a Concussion Happens Can Change Its Symptoms

Each part of the brain has different functions, and cognitive changes may differ based on where the impact of the injury occurred. Generally speaking, feelings of fogginess, having a hard time focusing, having memory issues, or having difficulty finding words are all symptoms to look for. Per the Brain Injury Association of America,

  • “An injury to the frontal lobes may affect an individual’s ability to control emotions, impulses, and behavior or may cause difficulty recalling events or speaking.
  • The brain stem controls the body’s involuntary functions that are essential for survival, such as breathing and heart rate.
  • An injury to the temporal lobes may lead individuals to demonstrate difficulty with communication or memory.
  • Individuals who have injured their parietal lobes may have trouble with their five primary senses.
  • An injury to the cerebellum may affect balance, movement, and coordination.
  • An injury to one’s occipital loves may lead to trouble seeing or perceiving the size and shapes of objects” (2021).

Physical Therapy Can Help

It is important to rest immediately after injury. While most major symptoms may resolve within two to three weeks, there is still a risk of re-injury or post-concussive syndrome, where symptoms persist beyond the two-to-three-week time period. Concussions are serious injuries and should be treated as such. Physical therapy is an excellent intervention to help with symptoms past the two-week window.

In physical therapy, not only can the physical elements, like activity through sensitivity be addressed, mental cognition can also be built up. In the Therapists in Motion podcast, Paul Gagliano, PT, DPT, detailed treatment protocols following concussions: “Within the first fourteen days, there should be relative rest.” After that, physical therapy can aid in returning to activity in a scaled way. Beginning in a closed environment and working towards a louder, more complex environment, a mix of orthopedic and vestibular rehab can aid in bringing you back to full functionality. Paul went on to say “Adding some sort of mental cognition challenge where they will not only be doing vestibular exercises but also answering questions you might be asking them or going through some sort of mental task. It can be as simple as counting backwards from 100 by 7s, 3s, or 8s, but it is designed to challenge their brain. We are talking about trauma to the brain, so we need to make the brain work. If you are doing nothing but work on the single activity the patient is trying to perform, they will get better at that single activity, then they will go into real life where they are thinking about 18 things at once, and then they try to do the one activity, and suddenly find themselves unsuccessful. You need to train the brain in a complex environment to best replicate function.”

No two concussions are the same just like no two brain injuries are the same. March is Brain Injury Awareness Month, and our therapists at Spooner want to provide anyone who has sustained a brain injury with care that is unique to your goals – whether that be returning to sport or to everyday tasks.

For more information about concussion treatment at Spooner, head to the Vestibular Rehabilitation page. If you have sustained a concussion, we are here to help you move better, feel better and get back to doing the things you love. Schedule an appointment with a Spooner therapist today.

Resources:

  1. Concussion (mtbi). Brain Injury Association of America. (2021, March 15). Retrieved March 17, 2022, from https://www.biausa.org/brain-injury/about-brain-injury/concussion-mtbi
  2. Functions of the Brain. Brain Injury Association of America. (2021, March 18). Retrieved March 17, 2022, from https://www.biausa.org/brain-injury/about-brain-injury/basics/function-of-the-brain
  3. Gagliano, Paul, and Dan Miriovsky (Hosts). (2019, September). Concussions (Ep. 49) [Audio podcast episode]. In Therapists in Motion. https://www.spoonerpt.com/spooner-blog/ep-49-concussions/
  4. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2022, February 17). Concussion. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved March 17, 2022, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/concussion/symptoms-causes/syc-20355594