Athletes' Potential

  • Home
  • Physical Therapy
    • Atlanta ACL Physical Therapy
    • Atlanta Runners
  • Blog
  • Testimonials
  • About Us
  • CONTACT US
  • Podcast
  • Home
  • Physical Therapy
    • Atlanta ACL Physical Therapy
    • Atlanta Runners
  • Blog
  • Testimonials
  • About Us
  • CONTACT US
  • Podcast

Become the HERO of your own HEALTH

Inquire About Cost and Availability

Concussions, Part 3: Management & Return to Sport

8/23/2018

0 Comments

 
In the past two weeks, we defined concussions and the signs and symptoms to help identify one. In the final part of this series, we will cover my favorite part: Management and Return to Sport.
A study in 2014 showed that in 43.5% of concussion cases, the patient returned to sport too soon and in 44.7% of concussion cases, the patient returned to school too soon. That’s almost every other concussion. Come on, we can do better.
​

Management

Let’s build on my previous example about Billy Bob – It’s Saturday, the day after the playoff football game, where he had to sit out after receiving a concussion. He didn’t sleep much. He has a headache, some trouble concentrating, and light sensitivity. What should Billy Bob do next?
In the past, medical professionals would advise staying in a dark room and resting till all symptoms go away. But with more recent research, we see that being in these dark caves and shut off from the world can actually hinder your recovery.
​

For the first 24-48 hours, I do think rest is an important component. But what I would recommend is to try to go about your normal day within your capacity and don’t exceed your symptom threshold. What does this mean in English? Try to work with what you currently have and don’t make it worse. The goal here is to get back into your normal routine as fast, but safely, as possible.
Below is a slide from a recent presentation I gave in June at one of our National Physical Therapy Conferences regarding concussion management.
Picture
What this basically shows is that there’s a “sweet spot.” Too much rest and/or too much activity can make a concussion worse. We call this graded exposure. This is why understanding your threshold is important and using your symptoms to help guide the process.

To better understand graded exposure, I always like to give patients the pool analogy. You don’t want to be in the shallow end and you don’t want to be in the deep end. You want to be somewhere in the middle where you can start causing some stress on your body in order to create positive adaptations.

Now, there are many different routes that concussion management and treatment can go. This all depends on the clinical exam and the signs and symptoms the patient is experiencing. I’m going to keep this general in order to provide a 360 degree view of these different options:

  • Exercise and exertional therapy – Baseline testing is important and allows us to make sure that symptoms don’t creep up when our bodies are being tested and stressed through exercise and sport.
  • Cervical spine and manual therapy – Our necks can often get neglected, but it is very common for someone who has had a concussion to have neck issues. We can focus treatment on the spine and the surrounding muscles to decrease guarding and improve strength.
  • Visual and vestibular rehab – These two systems have an integral role with how our balance system works. There are specific exercises and treatments we can perform to help get these systems in sync with our brain and nervous system.
 
These are all areas that Physical Therapists can address and help treat.


Return to Play
​

The Concussion in Sport Group (CISG) creates consensus statements for physicians and healthcare providers involved in athlete care every 4 years. Below outlines our most current model from their meeting in 2016 for the concussion return-to-play process.
Picture
I also like this integrated model by Complete Concussions below where they combine school and play together to give you a better overall picture of this process.
Picture
And, I would be remiss if I also didn’t mention 3 other aspects of health that are very important in this recovery process:
Picture
Our best recovery weapons are sleep and nutrition. We have to approach this from a holistic perspective if we expect to have the best outcomes.

I want this article and the rest of this concussion series to serve you as a resource. If you suspect you or someone you know has had a concussion, it’s important to make sure it gets addressed. Concussions are incredibly complex and it takes a team approach to make sure each person gets the best care.

At Athletes’ Potential, we have Doctors of Physical Therapy who are able to appropriately screen and assess for concussions as well as offer treatment for the management of this condition. If you have any questions, please call us at 470-355-2106.

Cheers,
​
Dr. Ravi, 
PT, DPT, CSCS
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    PT Knowledge

    Dr. Danny and staff's views on performance improvement, injury prevention, and sometimes other random thoughts.

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    2015 Review
    Active Atlanta Podcast
    Atlanta
    Australia
    Back Pain
    Blood Flow Restriction
    Boston
    Breathing
    Concussion
    CrossFit
    Deadlift
    Double Under
    Dr. Danny
    Dr. Jacob
    Dr. Marcus
    Dr. Ravi
    Dr. Sam
    Front Rack
    Healthcare & Insurance
    Jumping
    Jumping Rope
    Knee Pain
    Mobility
    Muscles
    Neck Pain
    Nutrition
    Overtraining
    Pelvic Floor
    Performance
    Physical Therapy
    PhysioCoach
    Postpartum
    Pregnancy
    Recovery
    Rehab
    Running
    Shoulder
    Sitting
    Sleep
    Soccer
    Speed & Agility
    Squatting
    Standing Desk
    Stress Management
    Stretching
    Swim
    Tennis
    Warming Up
    Work
    Youth Sports

    Archives

    March 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014


Contact Us:

533 W Howard Ave, C1
Decatur, GA 30030
        
​Phone: 470-355-2106
Fax Number: 404-382-7293


info@athletespotential.com   ​
Athletes' Potential

About Us
Contact Us
Services
​
Corporate Wellness
​
Resources

Active Atlanta Podcast
​Blog
​Testimonials
​FAQ
Patient Portal
Book Now
​© Copyright 2016 Athletes' Potential, LLC.  All rights reserved.      
This website does not provide medical advice and does not direct that you undertake any specific exercise or training/rehabilitation regimen.  Consult with a physician before undertaking any information found on this website. All visitors to this site must consent to Terms of use and Notice of Privacy Practice.