Monday Medical: Concussion tools help recovery
If you go
What: Group Baseline ImPACT Testing
When: 4:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday
Where: Steamboat Springs Middle School
Cost: $15
Details: Sign up is required. Call SportsMed at 970-871-2370.
Ryan McConnell, 23, would like nothing more than to ski this coming winter and do other activities he enjoyed before his accident. Five months ago, McConnell fell 100 feet while hiking near Moab, Utah. His injures included a traumatic brain injury, which affected his cognitive skills, speech and other brain functions.
“I know it’s going to be a long recovery,” McConnell said. “Physically, I’m ready to start going out and doing stuff. But because of my head injury, I know I have to take it easy.”
Traumatic brain injury and concussion — a less severe traumatic brain injury — result from bumps, jolts or blows to the head or body. These most often occur from falls, car accidents and during sports/recreation activities. There is no such thing as a “minor” concussion; every potential brain injury should be taken seriously.
Good rest and treatment help many people with concussions regain much or all of their brain function. However, individuals who prematurely return to sports or activity risk getting a second concussion, which can cause permanent disability or death. Fortunately, research strides have provided doctors and therapists more and better tools for recognizing and managing brain injuries and gauging patients’ recovery progress.
“Concussions are common, but the way we evaluate and treat them has changed,” said Frederica Manning, a physical therapy assistant with the Concussion Management Program at SportsMed.
No two concussions are alike. Effects can involve memory, judgment, reflexes, speech, balance, muscle coordination, sensations and emotions. Symptoms may be immediate or delayed and can last days, weeks or longer. Often, people with concussions never lose consciousness.
Therapy specialists at SportsMed at Yampa Valley Medical Center work with patients’ doctors and use a variety of tests and examinations to understand each individual’s complex symptoms and brain injury. This helps them to better target therapies to facilitate the patient’s healing process and a safe return to activity.
SportsMed therapists are specially trained to use Vestibular Ocular/Motor Screening Examination, or VOM, a tool developed by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center to assess concussion damage to complex nerve systems responsible for balance.
Concussion evaluation tests also include ImPACT (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing), a computer-based test for athletes that helps measure concussion effects on memory, visual motor speed, reaction time and other cognitive skills, and how these skills improve with time and treatment.
Ideally, athletes take the test before any injury to establish a baseline to compare with any post-concussion ImPACT test. Many schools and sports organizations require baseline tests for athletes in sports with higher concussion rates such as football, soccer, hockey and cheerleading. ImPACT baseline tests are valid for two years.
SportsMed therapists have been assisting McConnell in his recovery process for several months. He recently took the ImPACT test, weighing the results with baseline data from a test he took while on the downhill ski racing team at Montana State University.
“It definitely showed me what I was still struggling with and the healing that needed to happen before I could really start any major physical activities,” he said.
SportsMed will be conducting group baseline ImPACT testing at Steamboat Springs Middle School this week. The cost is $15, and sign up is required. ImPACT testing also is available to the general public. For more information, call 970-871-2370.
Concussion symptoms are complex. They are sometimes subtle and can be delayed even months after an incident. It’s important to see your doctor if you notice any cognitive, physical, emotional or sleep changes that may be related to a fall, blow or jolt to the head. In some cases, emergency medical attention should be sought immediately.
For more information about concussion warning signs, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website at http://www.cdc.gov/concussion.
This article includes information from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, http://www.asns.org.
Tamera Manzanares writes for Yampa Valley Medical Center. She can be reached at tameramanza@gmail.com.
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