Signs of concussion and how to treat it
All sorts of injuries happen on the farm.
Many come with obvious signs and symptoms, for example, strains, sprains and fractures have a way of presenting themselves externally, once an injury occurs. An injury that can sometimes be hard to identify — and often even harder to treat — is head trauma.
A concussion, the common term for mild traumatic brain injuries, occurs when our brain impacts the inside of our skull. This can happen either by direct impact of the head into an object, or a whiplash-based injury where force transference causes our brain to impact the skull internally.
Concussions can be hard to diagnose as they don’t always present with observable, physical damage after injury, and the list of symptoms that can signal concussive injury to the brain is long and varied. Concussion symptoms can be varied because they stem from the inflammatory cascade that occurs within the brain and skull after trauma.
It’s important to recognize that if you’ve recently been in a crash or experienced trauma that involves the whole body, you’ve knocked your head or you have fallen in a way that causes your head/neck to whiplash, there is the potential for concussive injury.
The combination of complex physiological response to a head injury with the low vascular and lymphatic movement within the skull creates a perfect storm for concussion-related symptoms to occur. The brain is our master processor, and when it’s recovering from injury, symptoms can range from sleep, mood and memory issues all the way to physical pain, increased tension and changes to how our nervous system processes information. There’s a long list of over twenty different symptoms commonly reported with concussions and, of course, everyone can experience a concussion differently.
While concussions can be scary and challenging to recover from, the good news is that most people do make a full recovery. As with any injury, finding knowledgeable support is key to recovery. Concussions take time to heal — which can be doubly challenging due to their insidious nature. Unlike breaking a leg, we can’t visibly see our brain healing, and because the symptom profile can be so varied and environment-specific, it’s sometimes hard to subjectively measure progress.
Rehabilitating well from a concussion requires diligent patience with the evolving symptoms we might experience and doing what we can to support the body in clearing out and regulating the inflammatory response that occurs in the brain.
Therapies that include manual work for the neck, shoulders and head can be very effective in supporting healthy circulation, lymphatic drainage and nervous system regulation throughout the recovery process.
Current guidelines recommend taking it easy for several days post-injury, when symptoms are often at their worst, and then gradually returning to life in a “within capacity” way. This means paying close attention to what kinds of activities cause symptoms to occur and not pushing through symptoms when they do occur.
It is a careful balance between engaging in life while mitigating symptoms. This mindful process supports the body in building resilience while avoiding the vicious cycle of symptom flares.
In addition to guided rehabilitation and hands-on therapies, ensuring extra hydration (even adding electrolytes to support tissue hydration), eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, and getting extra protein can also help the brain heal.
Fresh foods contain higher amounts of antioxidants, vitamin C and the type of nutrition that lowers inflammation in the body. Protein helps the body do what it’s best at: repair tissues after injury. Because many concussion symptoms are the result of lingering inflammation in the head, extra hydration helps reduce this over time.
The first step to healing a concussion is to acknowledge when things feel off or are not quite right after physical trauma. While definitive medical testing sometimes falls short on confirming physical damage in the brain, we know a lot about how symptoms present, and skilled practitioners such as certified athletic therapists, physiotherapists (especially those with extra vestibular therapy training) and other manual or physical rehab-based professionals can be excellent guides throughout the recovery process.
Concussion rehab can’t be done solo, so it’s important to ensure that friends and family are aware there’s an injury healing under the surface. Just because we can’t see the damage doesn’t mean it isn’t there. And while the healing process can be long and frustrating, concussions heal just like any other part of the body.
