Concussions

[fundmark19]

So my wife slipped on some ice and ended up with a 3rd grade concussion. I haven't had one in over 15 years so I am not caught up on what is the best way to treat them.

We went to the hospital and all they provided was the grade and said lay down for 72 hours. I have been doing some internet browsing and it looks like mixed information about what you should do following the concussion. Anyone who has had a kid or themselves go through this recently add in some suggestions?

Here is our plan so far:

First 72 hours dark room with minimal stimulus. So far she has been doing pretty good 36 hours in for just sleep and staying in the dark.

Next 72 start introducing dim lights and more activities. Listing to audio books maybe some tv screen exposure.

Beyond this I am at a loss and not even sure if my second stage is appropriate. As much as it sucks to be working and taking care of the 3 kids I want to try and give her as much rest/time away from us to hopefully eliminate this lingering for months on end. Any advice or tricks that anyone who has gone through this would be appreciated!

[woob]

I don't have any advice but am wishing her a speedy recovery.

[Wastedyouth]

Sleep is the best remedy. And then just let her symptoms determine your course of action.

Sleep lets the brain heal. She should refrain from doing anything that gets her heart rate up (no sex for you!).

Play it by ear after the first couple days. There is no perfect strategy. I had a 3rd grade concussion that lasted 2 months. 1 month of which was my second year of college, I remember nothing from that time.

[DoubleF]

Doesn't work for everyone, but warm bean bag?

Basically you use it as heat therapy on various parts of the body for relaxation, especially neck, shoulder and eyes.

My buddy said it kinda helped, but it annoyed him that the bean bag would have to be regularly reheated and he wasn't sure of its efficacy. His wife however (the one heating the bean bag for him and managing his recovery) had the opposite opinion and said she'd definitely recommend its use. She said the bean bag and hot baths seemed the most effective for him. I don't know what grade of concussion it was though.

Hoping that she has a speedy recovery.

[JohnnyB]

I have spent a fair bit of time dealing with concussions. Rest and reduced stimulus is pretty much where it's at. Some recommend adding brain healthy foods such as fatty fish, blueberries, dark chocolate etc. and anything rich in protein, zinc and magnesium.

The thing with concussions is that the recovery timeline is a bit unpredictable, as are symptoms. Best to be conscious of unusual changes in emotions or cognitive function and take time to slow down and heal when/if it they intrude into life again. Recovery is not necessarily linear, so don't assume it's all in the past as soon as she starts feeling normal again.

I hope she recovers quickly and fully, and that she doesn't get any more bumps like that in future. Concussions suck.

[CaptainCrunch]

There is no real time line or perfect strategy, every concussion reacts and heals differently.



I've had 7 or 8 diagnosed concussions and each one was stunningly different.


Its more important to be able to react to symptoms appearing and dissapearing and then taking the next steps.


Keeping her away from things like electronic stimulations (Screens etc) for the first little bit is important, yes rest is important as well.



However you need to keep an eye on things like fatigue or complaints of tiredness, or a requirement to sleep a lot, if that keeps happening then you really need to get it checked out and documented.


Getting excercise is important, when the symptoms fade, blood flow is important. But you want to be cautious of it, and maybe only engage in it once the persons symptoms are gone (Headache, light sensitivity etc). Then you want to start with really light forms of exercise and really monitor for the return of symptoms or the onset of new symptoms.



Then you can start ramping up the physical activity and keep monitoring. If symptoms reaturn, shut it down, and consult your doctor.


Blood flow and activity does help the healing process.


Important thing is the mental health aspect of it. People with concussions can tend to get really frustrated or frightened as concussion symptoms continue. Frustrated because its not going away, frightened because you worry that its not going away.


I will say this, the last concussion that I got was when I played a flag football game with a bunch of Calpuckers, and I bounced the back of my head off of the turf. After a few minutes of gaining back awareness, I felt find but left the game and stood on the sidelines because after multiple concussions in my life I don't take any chances with a duel event. I felt ok for a couple of days, and then on the third day, I had full fledged headache, I got extremely dizzy when I moved around, and the fog rolled in on me. That last one took me about 6 months before I started feeling even half way normal.


A mild concussion can go away in a week, it can take a year, there's no real check list. Play it by ear. Monitor it, and if things continue for too long, consult a doctor.


Just my 2 cents.


BTW our return to play protocol for sports doesn't really incorporate hard and fast time lines or steps based on time as much as steps based on symptoms.

[fundmark19]

Thank you everyone good information. Safe to assume if her headache is still present we should be dark room and sleep as much as possible and then go from there.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

Thank you everyone good information. Safe to assume if her headache is still present we should be dark room and sleep as much as possible and then go from there.

Its a start, but like I said it depends on how long right. One of the things you can do is keep notes and document. Scale the symptoms. If the fatigue and headache are continuing on then make sure you consult your doctor.



Concussions are tricky.


There's no scab.

[Isbrant]

Check where you live to see if there is something like the Complex Concussion Clinic at the Glen Sather Sports Medicine Clinic in Edmonton.

https://www.ualberta.ca/glen-sather-...on-clinic.html

At this clinic You need a referal from you doctor unless the concussion happened within the past 30 days, then you can book an assessment without a referal.

[Huntingwhale]

I got concussed years ago and it sucked. Hope your wife can rest and heal herself quickly.

Something I did was to reduce any kind of screen time. I remember trying to use my smart phone was physically painful to my head. If she must use it, use a blue light filter to ease the strain on the eyes and keep it short. Avoid larger screen like laptops or TVs. If she feels fine to watch TV, turn down the brightness.

She should just take it easy and essentially you will be her slave to get things done around the house until she is better. Concussions suck. Mine was one of the most horrible phases of my life and I felt the effects long after due to the severity of mine. Scary, but the brain does heal eventually. Just takes time.

[boogerz]

I had a bad concussion about two years ago. If you feel like your wife is going to need some expert advice, talk to your GP for a referral asap.

It's hard to see a concussion specialist these days (in-person of virtually) due to the limited number of specialists operating in Calgary, and priority being given to competitive athletes and individuals with severe post-concussion syndrome.

By the time I got an appointment with a concussion specialist, it was about 20 months after the concussion event (including a 3 month delay due to Covid).

[Nufy]

So did the ice get 5 and a game or just 2 minutes...

j/k Hope she fully recovers soon...

I have no advise...just bad humor...

[malcolmk14]

Fight for a referral to the Acute Sport Concussion Clinic at the U of C. My coworker had a concussion last winter and after struggling for a really long time, this changed her life.

[Buff]

No screen time is important. A couple of times my son thought he had a concussion and my wife, who had some concussion training (not a lot), would not allow him to have any screen time of any sort.

My wife's bestie got a concussion from an accident last April or May and it was bad. She would drop off a coffee for my wife at least once a week, sometimes two or three times and sometimes when my wife wasn't home. My wife realized how bad her friends concussion was when her friend dropped off a coffee in November and said "I'm so glad to see you, it's been since before the pandemic started". She had no memory of any visit from May to November.

Concussions are serious.

[RichieRich]

Look for a good Osteopath who has experience with TBI’s. This made an incredible difference for my severe concussion and whiplash. Functional medicine docs and naturopaths can give guidance for foods and supplements that help the body heal itself faster.

Also brain food, like others have mentioned, to also include supplements of EFAs and MCT oil, CoQ10, LGlutamine. Do some research on Gotu Kola and Bacopa to determine if they’re appropriate.

[Sr. Mints]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

I have spent a fair bit of time dealing with concussions. Rest and reduced stimulus is pretty much where it's at. Some recommend adding brain healthy foods such as fatty fish, blueberries, dark chocolate etc. and anything rich in protein, zinc and magnesium.

The thing with concussions is that the recovery timeline is a bit unpredictable, as are symptoms. Best to be conscious of unusual changes in emotions or cognitive function and take time to slow down and heal when/if it they intrude into life again. Recovery is not necessarily linear, so don't assume it's all in the past as soon as she starts feeling normal again.

I hope she recovers quickly and fully, and that she doesn't get any more bumps like that in future. Concussions suck.

That's basically it. Rest and reduced stimulus sounds easy, but it really ain't

I'd add frozen bean bags, and no booze for a while. Alcohol inhibits brain recovery, although I honestly don't know if that extends to concussions

Current patient at brain clinic

[fundmark19]

Looks like depression might be kicking in today. Hard to tell if this is different from her normal anxiety struggles but seems mental well being is definitely taking a hit.

Hopefully just a tough day just dealing with the kids not seeing her as much

[CaptainCrunch]

Honestly its going to be a struggle, Concussions are a funny thing because not only are the victims freaked out by the fact that they've injured their brain. But the depression could be a result of the injury itself.


I think its important to keep them engaged in something, just resting is tough because it leaves a lot of dead time to worry. even if they shouldn't or can't use electronics and reading is a pain in the butt (and it was for me). Just talking works. In one of mine, my girlfriend got me engaged in a version of I see with my little eye, and it kept my mind off of things.


The frustration point and anxiety stuff gets worse if the symptoms fade out a bit and then come back stiffling recovery. I had a concussion where the symptoms kept going away and then coming back full force a few days later, and this lasted months, you need to have a good understanding of that and the recovery process.



And yeah not seeing the kids as much is a moral crusher, I get that.

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

Looks like depression might be kicking in today. Hard to tell if this is different from her normal anxiety struggles but seems mental well being is definitely taking a hit.

Hopefully just a tough day just dealing with the kids not seeing her as much

Don't discount emotional changes, especially if they don't seem in proportion to anything happening in life or they don't have any external source at all. Those can be a big part of the impact of a concussion. If she's having unusual and seemingly irrational or wild changes in mood that you would characterize as being out of character for her, that's very likely the concussion causing them. Helping her and the kids to understand that, and helping her to slow down and rest when she starts feeling that way would be prudent.

[CaptainCrunch]

Concussions are so bizarre, everyone that I've had has been completely different.



The major one that I had last time didn't feel as major. For the first two days, then it hit me.


My first one I missed a month of school because I was constantly dizzy and nauseous, and my doctor kept me home and basically encourage low light and all of that stuff.


One of the middle ones made me a not only an emotional mess but at times have some serious lash out and anger issues because the symptoms were just constant, migraine headaches, low energy the works.


I still attribute my extremely poor memory to my concussions as well as some other things. They're not laughing matters. They're not really predictable, and they're scary as hell.