Your brain is like a neural information super highway. Normally, the traffic is free flowing, and there is no congestion or any delay. Think now of a collision occurring on a multi-lane highway and the chaos it causes: debris, standstill traffic – and lots of confusion and frustration!
In the same way, let’s liken your concussion to a car accident interfering with your normal “highway” brain functioning. When it comes to the signs and symptoms of concussion, there are four major areas or highways of your brain that are affected:
As you can see from the table above, these four affected highways are Mood, Cognition (Thinking/Remembering), Sleep Disturbance and Physical.
Trained concussion physiotherapists will assess, treat and rehabilitate the Physical highway specifically. Treatment includes: addressing neck pain, tailoring an exercise programme specific to your heart rate, and restoring normal eye movement and balance patterns also known as vestibular and oculomotor rehabilitation.
The idea is that if we can clear the physical highway of congestion, then it allows the traffic to flow and indirectly allows the remaining three highways to clear over time.
Concussion care requires multidisciplinary team work! We work closely with the relevant sports physicians, neurologists, ENT’s and neuropsychologists as needed. The medical team needs to work in conjunction with parents or significant others, teachers or employers and/or sports coaches for optimum outcomes.
