aw man, everyone run. I opened this thread. the AT in me is about to come out.
I'm gonna keep this short for you because you should NOT be using electronics. My recommendation is go to a concussion specialist. they can help you more than a regular doctor, especially if your symptoms are still that bad. They may be able to make accomodations for you especially in school to help with the symptoms. besides that, REST, REST REST!!!
Megan(: get off the computer, the rest of my rant is for the unconcussed world.
Now, I'm going to go off on a tangent, in hopes that others that are unconcussed read it for future reference. :D
I have had concussions DRILLED into me since I got into the program. Right now, this a topic up there on our radar because of such high incidences of them, and the fact that most athletes are not properly educated and aren't doing anything for prevention, which is a gray area in and of itself.
you can NOT return to play until you are symptom free. trust me, you don't want to risk the rest of your life because it was "just a headache". You want to know what happens when you return to play without being asymptomatic? second impact syndrome, which is a life threatening injury. A concussion is bleeding in the brain. if you don't give it time to heal,you are putting yourself at risk for further injury. Trust me, the amount of athletes that have died from second impact syndrome is a scarily high number.
It's hard to clear an athlete with a concussion because the way of going about doing so is rather subjective. it involves a lot of questions that could easily be answered with a lie. and like others have mentioned, concussions are on an individual basis. I know athletes that have returned in a week, and I've known one who took two years to come back, and in those two years experienced some very debilitating symptoms. You want to know why it took her so long? because she lied and came back before she was ready and got second impact syndrome, along with post concussion syndrome. She just got cleared this year, got another concussion her last game, and now she's done forever.
now that I've probably just scared the crap out of you...
here's some things to think about. have you been back to the doctor since the concussion? how bad are your headaches? are you experiencing other symptoms, and how bad are they? either way, to still be getting headaches two weeks post concussion, I would recommend a concussion specialist. That's what we have to do in PA now actually with minors. Any athlete complaining of any symptom of a concussion has to be pulled, sent to a concussion specialist, who must clear them, and then after that they still have to pass their impact test before returning. sounds excessive, and at times it sucks, but guess how many kids we had with second impact syndrome? none.
again, RTP protocol is on an individual basis, but normally once an athletes symptoms stop, we will start with light activity and progress. most athletes we start with walking the track or treadmill, then progress to jogging, running, backward running, etc. then depending on the sport will depend on progression. like football, normally drills without pads, drills with pads, and slowly work back into contact. every time they become symptomatic again, they have to wait to be asymptomatic and start from square one.
I know the concussion specialist we used with the high school this year would have the athletes run 2 laps, and then do sit ups and push ups for a certain time, and repeat. this would be after passing the impact test. any symptoms, and they have to retake the impact symptom free, and start from square one.
I recommend a concussion specialist because your actual doctor isn't much use to you for those kinds of injuries.
When we have athletes with symptoms that aren't improving, sometimes accomodations have to be made. usually with school, we'll have them register with the office of disabilities. sometimes something as simple as the lights in a classroom or looking up at the board can exacerbate symptoms. and yes NO electronics. which is why me typing this novel is stupid because you shouldn't be reading it anyway. but I'm hoping other people read it, because awareness is so important these days with concussions. I do my best to help people see how serious they are. "getting your bells rung" is not normal. it's a traumatic brain injury. so please, if you get a concussion, or think you have a concussion, be smart and tell someone. don't ruin the rest of your life because you want to "be tough" or "take one for the team". because none of that will matter if you leave a concussion untreated.
alright, I'm done :D
