Concussions. What are they and what are the symptoms? As a Mom who has a son that plays sports, this word always has frightened me. Not only am I a Mom, but also a chiropractor, and I know the trauma that a concussion can cause young athletes. This past year, my son suffered a small concussion followed by a pretty significant concussion playing lacrosse and knocked him unconscious.
Watching your son get knocked out and worried what the ramifications of that brief moment would be was challenging for me. Lucky for my son, his Mom knew what to do, how to look for symptoms and how to provide the best care for his recovery. I wanted to share some of my tips and interesting facts about concussions that I learned through our journey last spring.
The Mayo Clinic says that a concussion is a “traumatic brain injury” that damages the brain and changes the way the brain functions.
Symptoms
The most commonly reported symptoms include:
- Headaches
- Difficulty trying to think
- Hard time standing up straight or even walking
- Sick to your stomach or nausea
- Dizzy sensations
- Ringing in your ears
- Fatigue
What do you think of when you hear concussion? Do you think it only can happen to professional athletes? Any blow to the head can result in a concussion and this includes playground injuries, automobile accidents, falling down the stairs, and even bicycling or skateboarding accidents.
Statistics
I found the statistics around concussions alarming:
- #1 cause of concussions is sports injuries
- 47% of the sports related injuries are found to happen during high school football
- 1 in 5 high school athletes will get a concussion during their sports season.
- 33% of all sports related concussions happen at practice
- 9 out of 10 people that get a concussion will not lose consciousness
Concussions are very serious and need to be properly evaluated. Along with brain trauma, your child may have experienced trauma to their cervical spine. Many of the signs of concussions are also signs of cervical trauma and should be evaluated. The force he experienced not only knocked him out but he suffered cervical whiplash from the blunt hit. The minimum force that is required for a concussion is 9G’s and to create a concussion is 90 G’s. That is an incredible amount of blunt trauma and force that not impacts the brain but also the cervical spine.
Initially after my son experienced his concussion, I checked and evaluated his cervical spine for trauma. I performed my complete chiropractic examination on him and scanned him using the Insight Subluxation Station that I also use on all my patients in my practice. We were seen and evaluated at a concussion clinic in Raleigh. He was out of sports for almost four weeks to allow his brain to heal and for his processing and energy levels to return to normal. I checked and adjusted him daily for weeks until he began to start holding his adjustments and the inflammation and trauma in his cervical spine decreased. In addition. I used Young Living essential oils, Cypress and Frankincense, which have been known to help with healing, inflammation, blood flow, and nervous system injuries.
Chiropractic care is vital as part of your child’s concussion injury treatment plan. The trauma to the cervical spine, specifically the upper cervical spine, can delay recovery and healing. Childhood injuries that are not corrected can lead to spinal degeneration as adults. If your child has suffered a concussion, mild or severe, speak with Dr. Davis to have their nervous system evaluated for injuries and vertebral subluxations.
