How Do You Know if You Have a Concussion
Concussions | Brain Injury Awareness | Traumatic Brain Injury | Brain Safety & Care
If yous've been reading virtually concussion diagnosis and symptoms and feel confused, that's pretty normal. Most advice about concussions feels vague. It's difficult to know what applies to you lot. And if you're like about patients, yous may exist second-guessing yourself and unsure of whether to come across a md after your injury. In this post, nosotros'll effort to brand it easier for you to know if yous take a concussion and what options yous have. Along the way, we'll debunk some common myths about concussions and how yous can tell if y'all have one. Here'south a sneak peek at what nosotros'll encompass: Nosotros'll explain what a concussion is in more depth later in this postal service, but for now, we'll use this as a working definition: A concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury sustained subsequently a blow to the caput, whiplash, or jostling of the encephalon. That impact to the encephalon causes inflammation and may damage some brain cells. That injury and subsequent inflammation leads to concussion symptoms. Notation: If yous're experiencing symptoms that won't resolve later one or more than concussions, you're not solitary and you're not crazy. On boilerplate, our patients improve by 75% after treatment at our center specializing in post-concussion therapy. To see if y'all are eligible for treatment, sign upward for a gratis consultation. In this first section, we'll address some common questions that all take the form of, "Can I however have a concussion if ... ?" Some of them are tied to one-time myths about concussions, and some stalk from misunderstandings that fifty-fifty many health care providers perpetuate today. Yes! Someone may take told you that information technology'south not a concussion without loss of consciousness. But the reality is that your symptoms practise not dictate whether or not y'all had a concussion. You don't have to take retentivity loss, fainting, or any other major consequence for it to be considered a concussion. Only virtually 10% of concussion patients blackness out during their injury. The other ninety% stay witting the whole time! Yes, definitely. While many concussions are caused by a blow to the caput, you can also get a concussion from whiplash or jostling. In those cases, the brain slams against your skull, temporarily damaging the cells and causing an inflammation response. It'southward just as capable of causing symptoms as a physical hitting to the head. For example, we've treated people who experienced whiplash during a automobile accident. They didn't hit their heads, simply the damage to their brains was very real. Or, say yous're a effigy skater, and your falls effect in constant jostling of your brain. That could also result in a encephalon injury, even if yous didn't hit your caput on the ice. Mild or no symptoms does not mean you don't accept a concussion. Some people don't observe their symptoms immediately. And the symptoms may not be extreme — information technology's possible that you'll only experience a mild headache and moderate fatigue for a few days earlier getting back to normal, for example. Say you crash-land your caput and feel totally fine afterward, and the people yous're with don't notice any odd behavior. It's probably not a concussion, simply however has a chance of being one (especially if you've had brain injuries before). Sometimes, when the encephalon is injured, you lot may not feel symptoms immediately. Every brain reacts differently, so it's important to keep an eye on how you experience for several days afterward a blow to the head. Also, go on in listen there's no such thing as a "pocket-sized" concussion. Every concussion is, in technical terms, a mild traumatic brain injury. What makes it a "bad" concussion or not mainly depends on how much your brain is affected and how bad your symptoms are. Aye. Most of the time, your eyes will not exist a reliable source of diagnosis. That said, some baseline tests include eye-movement tracking that is capable of detecting a concussion. Unfortunately, baseline tests are not helpful unless you've taken them before your concussion. More on that in a flake. So tin can your eyes ever indicate encephalon damage? They might. If both pupils are dilated, that could just be your trunk's normal response to a stressful situation. If ane educatee is dilated more than the other, that could betoken more than serious brain trauma. It'southward worth seeing a dr. immediately to rule out a traumatic brain injury. Yes! Most regular MRI and CT scans volition not show concussion impairment. They're simply non designed to detect concussion damage. Think of it this way: Imagine you're looking into the window of a company. The lights are on, the building is intact, and the workers are present. Externally, it seems like the company is running well. But for the purposes of our example, we'll say that the workers don't become along, the company's finances have been mismanaged, and the CEO merely resigned amidst a scandal. It'southward really not doing well at all. The view you get of the company by looking at appearances (i.eastward., is the building there, are there people in it, etc.) is like looking at your brain with a regular MRI: It can verify that your encephalon structures are nowadays and undamaged. Simply a regular MRI can't tell you how well that brain is using its resources and whether your neurons are communicating the mode they need to (i.e., are the employees collaborating, is the CEO leading them well, etc.). For that, you'd need an fNCI — a test we'll talk near more in a following section. So what should you expect for if you retrieve you have a concussion? If yous ... ... then information technology's probable (but non guaranteed) you have a concussion. Allow's talk over which symptoms y'all can get from a concussion, along with how doctors tin can evaluate patients when a concussion is suspected. Maybe you were driving without a seatbelt when you got into a automobile crash. Possibly it's a sports injury. Perhaps you tripped and slammed your caput on the counter. Or maybe y'all got knocked effectually at the roller coaster park. From the near frightening to the most inglorious methods of getting a concussion, the answer is the same: You cannot have a concussion unless yous hitting your head, experienced whiplash, or jostled your brain enough for information technology to crash against your skull. If you lot did experience one of those iii causes of head injuries, then your chances of having a concussion are high. That said, some situations are more probable to result in serious brain injury than others. Crash into a tree snowboarding? Hit your head in a motor vehicle accident? Autumn off a balcony? Those situations — and others similar them — are more likely to effect in a severe traumatic brain injury than, say, getting tackled during football. Only having a less terrifying hit to the head doesn't hateful you should let your guard downwards. If yous experience whatever symptoms of a severe traumatic encephalon injury (listed hither), seek medical attention immediately. Nosotros've written an extensive guide to concussion symptoms, and then we won't rehash everything here. Here's the brusque version: As you can see from the chart, there are many unlike kinds of symptoms of a concussion (which makes sense when yous consider that your encephalon controls everything y'all practise!). You lot might experience residual bug, overwhelm, and memory problems, while someone else might have headaches, blurry vision, and personality changes. And in immature children, symptoms don't look the same either (see items starred with an asterisk in the nautical chart) because they can't express what they feel also every bit we can. Doctors consider the symptoms you're experiencing in light of your medical history. If you had information technology prior to head trauma — for instance, depression — but information technology got worse after a caput injury, and so you should mention it likewise. There is no gold standard when it comes to concussion testing. Many doctors, for lack of improve options, will order an MRI or a CT browse. Unfortunately, neither of these tests can reliably discover a concussion, although they can dominion out more serious causes of your symptoms. For example, if y'all have a tumor, brain bleed, or aneurysm, the scans should notice that. If it's been several months after your injury and you're still experiencing symptoms, and then we recommend a examination we utilize at Cognitive FX: functional neurocognitive imaging (fNCI). It's a special kind of functional MRI that looks at how your brain uses its resource in response to stimuli. This is as opposed to a regular MRI, which but looks at brain structure. It wouldn't thing what you were thinking of when you got the standard MRI, the results would exist the same. But for a functional MRI, the scan will change dramatically based on which regions of your brain are currently active. This distinction is critical. During the fNCI we administer, patients consummate a fix of six cerebral tasks. We use the scans to see which brain regions are involved in those tasks. Mail service-concussion patients showroom clear patterns of hyperactivity or hypoactivity in the brain regions affected by their injury. When patients meet established criteria, we tin can say with a great degree of certainty that they suffer from mail service-concussion syndrome. To learn more virtually other tests used during post-concussion diagnosis, please see our article on tests for post-concussion syndrome. If you play contact sports (or are in other situations that increase your likelihood of sustaining a concussion), y'all could complete a baseline test. A baseline test establishes what your normal functioning level is. Information technology usually involves some basic cerebral and reaction time tests and may also involve some balance testing. If you get a concussion after taking a baseline examination, you can retake the test immediately afterward injury. If your scores go downward significantly, then information technology'southward likely from your concussion. That said, the test isn't perfect — if it isn't administered in exactly the same mode, for example, you lot might not get authentic results. Some of the best baseline tests include an middle-tracking assessment. Information technology's worth seeing if a clinic in your expanse offers baseline testing with that included. Merely again, baseline testing is but helpful if you exercise it before your concussion. After your concussion, it'south also late to exist useful. If you think you lot have a concussion, it's of import non to return to normal life activities right away. The all-time recovery regimens involve a balance of do, light action, and rest. You tin slowly scale up to your previous schedule based on symptoms. You may also want to see a doctor, both for diagnosis and for help navigating recovery. In this section, we'll go over some pointers for recovery, along with when to see a doctor. If you sustained a concussion playing sports, practise non render to play until you have fully recovered from your concussion. People who have sustained one concussion are more susceptible to getting another, peculiarly when they oasis't notwithstanding recovered from the offset. Although rare, you would likewise risk 2d impact syndrome, a fatal condition caused in a small percentage of people who sustain a second concussion while not yet recovered from the first. Aside from that, the worst thing you tin can do is something called "cocooning." Cocooning involves resting all 24-hour interval in a dark room while avoiding all activity (including screens). Many well-significant doctors still give this medical communication because it'south what they were taught in school. Simply research over the by decade has shown that cocooning can really increase your likelihood of long-lasting symptoms. Here's what you tin do instead: Practice your all-time to become enough of sleep (but if y'all have a hard time sleeping, yous're not alone — it's a mutual symptom. This post might help.) We describe the acute concussion recovery procedure in depth in this post on how to treat a concussion. If yous'd similar actress guidance on how to piece of work out safely, you tin can read our guide to post-concussion exercise. Seeing a doctor is not e'er necessary if you've had a concussion. That said, it depends on your tolerance for risk: If you want to be absolutely sure that you lot oasis't sustained a worse injury than a concussion, see a doc. If you have unevenly enlarged pupils, or whatever other symptoms of a severe traumatic brain injury, you should seek medical attention immediately. Here are some of the astringent TBI symptoms listed by the NIH: Otherwise, going to the medico actually depends on what you demand. If your symptoms are mild and you have someone at habitation to watch over you lot, so seeing a healthcare professional may be unnecessary. If information technology's been a few weeks since your injury and yous're yet experiencing symptoms, it may be fourth dimension to consider a concussion treatment clinic. We've written a full mail on how to notice a adept clinic that you can use in your search. Post-concussion syndrome is when you have long-lasting symptoms after a mild traumatic brain injury. Near of the time, these symptoms volition not go abroad without treatment. The condition can be permanent, but after treatment at our clinic, 95% of our patients experience statistically verified restoration of brain function. To learn more almost how we can help you lot, sign upwardly for a costless consultation with our medical staff.
Can I Still Take a Concussion If ... ?
... If I Didn't Black Out?
... If I Didn't Hit My Head?
... If I Experience Fine the Next Twenty-four hours?
... If My Optics Didn't Show Any Modify?
... If the MRI or CT Scan Didn't Show Anything?
What Are the Signs of a Concussion?
How You Hit Your Head: Does It Affair?
Common Symptoms of Concussion
Concussion Tests
Baseline Testing
If I Have a Concussion, What Should I Do?
Agile Recovery
Visit a Dr.
What If My Symptoms Don't Go Away?
glassoprobbild1991.blogspot.com
Source: https://www.cognitivefxusa.com/blog/how-do-you-know-if-you-have-a-concussion