Who\u2019s ready for football season? With NFL training camps up and running this week, many of us are looking forward to weekends filled with football this fall. It\u2019s no surprise that football is rough on an athlete\u2019s body, and today\u2019s ATI Injury Analyst dropped in to give us some background on concussions, as males have a 75% chance of enduring a concussion while playing with the pigskin.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s meet our ATI Injury Analyst. Bernadette Crompton, a physical therapist at our North Wilmington clinic, shared a little bit with us about concussions, how to prevent them, and how to properly treat them.<\/p>\n
What concussions are…<\/strong><\/p>\n Concussions occur when trauma affects the brain. Put simply, they are an injury to the brain. Symptoms of a concussion can range from headaches and nausea to difficulty concentrating to changes in energy. These neurological disbalances are a result of a direct or indirect blow to the head that has caused the brain to move rapidly inside the skull.<\/p>\n How to diagnose concussions\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Unlike a broken leg or bruised wrist, it\u2019s impossible to physically see a concussion. Therefore, they can use an ImPACT test, a type of neuro-cognitive assessment that helps determine if an athlete is ready to return to play post-concussion. Athletes must take their original ImPACT test before hitting the field to determine their baseline scores. If an athlete is suspected to have a concussion, they can retake the ImPACT test to see if they are back at their baseline or need to spend more time recovering. As Bernadette says, athletes with concussions \u2013 even mild ones \u2013 rarely pass the ImPACT test on their first attempt and therefore have to retake it until they can pass and safely return to play.<\/p>\n How to treat concussions\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Bernadette says that the best treatment for a concussion is rest. It\u2019s important for the brain to decompress and not be stimulated by a lot of activity. Initially, there\u2019s not much physical therapists can do for a concussion besides suggest a resting period.<\/p>\n However, if the concussion does not subside, physical therapists can try vestibular rehabilitation, a type of balance rehab which can help with dizziness or nausea. Once an athlete\u2019s headaches have subsided and they\u2019re ready to get back to play, physical therapists will do sports-specific training with them to determine their ability to return. For football players, this may include cuts, tackles, or catches.<\/p>\n How to prevent concussions\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Who\u2019s ready for football season? With NFL training camps up and running this week, many of us are looking forward […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n