 | Head injuries can often be difficult to understand or fully diagnose. Be prepared to manage head injuries and concussions by offering your team or athletes baseline concussion tests. At Superior Performance Center, we offer ImPACT concussion testing and management. The clinicians at Superior Performance Center are Credentialed ImPACT Consultants, and they are trained to administer the concussion baseline and post-injury testing, recognize concussions, and perform management and return-to-play protocols. If you are concerned that an athlete might have a concussion, always seek professional medical care. Superior Performance Center can help you manage concussions. |
What is a Concussion?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines concussion as, “a type of traumatic brain injury—or TBI—caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or by a hit to the body that causes the head and brain to move rapidly back and forth. This sudden movement can cause the brain to bounce around or twist in the skull, creating chemical changes in the brain and sometimes stretching and damaging brain cells.”
- Common symptoms of concussion include:
- Headache, blurred vision, dizziness, sensitivity to light or noise
- Difficulty concentrating, remembering, thinking
- More emotional, irritable, sad, anxious
- Sleeping more, sleeping less, trouble falling asleep
How should a Concussion be managed?
First, if someone might have a concussion, remove that person from any environment that could risk Second Impact Syndrome (SIS). SIS is a condition that involves someone who has a head trauma or concussion and sustains a second impact/blow to the head. This can be very serious leading to cerebral swelling, brain herniation, and death.
Second, notify any medical professional that is trained in the recognition, diagnosis, and management of concussions. It is important to get a comprehensive evaluation of the event, and the medical professional needs to educate the patient and any friends or family of the important changes to look for 24-48 hours after a concussion.
Third, the medical professional will continue to monitor symptoms and ask the patient to perform a variety of different tasks or therapies to reintroduce the brain to different stresses. This is all part of the return-to-play protocols.
What is ImPACT?
ImPACT stands for Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing. ImPACT is a neurocognitive assessment administered online in a controlled environment. ImPACT has designed a baseline test and a post-injury test that can be used in conjunction to determine if a patient can safely return to activity after a head injury.
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For more information about Concussions or ImPACT testing, schedule an appointment with Dr. PierreCharles and his team at Superior Performance Center.
