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August 12, 2019

What you need to know about concussions

concussions

As summer begins to wind down, the days become shorter, children start getting excited to start a new school year, and the first thing I think about is FOOTBALL! The second thing I think about is….concussions. With more and more young people playing contact sports, the concussion rates among student athletes continue to rise. According to UPMC Sports Medicine, 5 to 8 percent of high school football players will suffer from a concussion this year. That is a frightening statistic for our young student athletes.

Concussions are extremely complex injuries with a wide range of symptoms as well as outcomes, which is why half of concussions go unreported or undetected. When we experience a concussion, the brain cells become damaged, causing chemical and cellular changes. The most common cause of a concussion is a hard, direct hit to the head in contact sports. However, it can also happen from an indirect hit that still causes your head to severely jerk, like a whiplash injury from a car accident.

Some symptoms a person might experience from a concussion are:

  • Headaches

  • Neck pain that does not go away

  • Difficulty concentrating or remembering

  • Slowness in speaking, thinking, acting, or reading

  • Feeling tired all the time

  • Mood changes for no reason

  • Changes in sleep patterns (having difficulty sleeping or sleeping too much)

  • Nausea

  • Blurred vision

  • Ringing in the ears

  • Increased sensitivity to light and sounds

 All of these symptoms are a sign of altered brain function. This can be a very serious issue if not treated properly and can increase your risk of getting another concussion if you resume normal activity too quickly. Seek immediate medical care after any acute head trauma to rule out anything serious.

After that, find a professional who can take care of your skull and spine’s alignment to ensure the best recovery, and prevent the damaging effects of future head trauma. Did you know that your skull is not just one round bone, but actually consists of 8 cranial bones and 14 facial bones? Realigning these 22 bones of the head along with the spine after trauma ensures proper blood flow and nerve flow to the brain so that it can heal properly.

Align your body. Balance your brain. Heal your life.