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Health & Fitness

Recognizing, Diagnosing and Treating Concussions

By Mark Meier, MD, family medicine physician with Wheaton Franciscan Medical Group in New Berlin.

We’ve all grimaced at instant replays of helmet-to-helmet contact in football, or a violent crash between hockey players that results in head trauma. The truth is that any situation where there is a forceful blow to the head, as in a car crash or slip on the ice, can damage our fragile brain tissue.

A concussion is a traumatic brain injury which alters the way the brain functions.  In most instances, the changes are temporary and all functioning returns to normal.

Know the symptoms
It's a myth that you unless you pass out, you haven’t suffered a concussion. In fact, most concussions are not associated with loss of consciousness. The most common symptoms  of a concussion are:

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  • Headache
  • Dizziness
  • Amnesia
  • Confusion
  • Nausea & vomiting
  • Fatigue
  • Lack of concentration
  • Personality changes
  • Sleep disturbance 

Some of these symptoms are immediate, but many are delayed. Any one of these symptoms alone, or any combination are possible, and until all symptoms have resolved, you must consider the brain injury unresolved.

In rare cases after a violent head injury, the blood vessels inside the skull bleed, resulting in severe, sometimes fatal, brain injury. For this reason, anyone who suffers a brain injury needs to be monitored in the first several hours following the injury by someone educated in concussion management, and receive emergency care if symptoms worsen.

Simple physical and neurological testing "on the field" or in an office or hospital are usually all that is needed to manage most concussions. If there is concern regarding severe damage to the brain, the most common test is a CT scan to rule out bleeding inside the skull.

Proper treatment for complete recovery
Once the proper diagnosis is made, the most important treatment is removal from competition and physical and mental rest. Athletes suffering a concussion will not only be temporarily removed from their sport, but also from school, giving their brain the complete relaxation that it needs to heal. The person suffering a concussion is then monitored so that they can return safely to school, work or play, often within a week.

Concussion Care Network at Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare
The Concussion Care Network includes a group of physicians and trainers that take care of athletes and individuals who suffer traumatic brain injury in a professional and systematic fashion, all following the same protocols for testing, diagnosis, and treatment.

We offer baseline ImPACT testing for area athletes to receive baseline neurological testing before suffering a concussion. Then, in the event of a head injury, these baseline testing results can be compared to results following a head injury. ImPACT testing is available through many of our local high schools that have a relationship with Wheaton’s Concussion Care Network. 

For more information
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