Contact sports like football and hockey carry increased risk of concussions. (Submitted photo/Louis Christ)

By Rob Mahon

Concussion Awareness Day

Concussion Awareness Day: experts offer advice on symptoms, treatment

Sep 29, 2021 | 9:00 AM

With several contact sports either beginning their seasons or just wrapping them up, the province has designated Sept. 29 as Concussion Awareness Day. Most people involved in any kind of sport, contact or otherwise, are familiar with the term, but knowing the signs of it can be another matter.

“Headaches, dizziness, nausea,” said Christina Vis, an exercise therapist with Hillside Physical Health and Fitness in Prince Albert. “Another big one is quite often athletes say they don’t feel right.”

Recognizing after a concussion immediately after it happens is a good first step. From there, getting the athlete to see a specialist is an important next step, as it starts them on the right path to recovery. Part of getting back to normal, however, is knowing what normal is, and for that, athletes are well served to have a baseline test.

“It challenges some immediate memory, concentration,” said Keith Zawislak, co-owner of Hillside Physical Health and Fitness. “There’s a neurological scan in there and then there’s also a balance test. Based on each section of the test, they receive a score. So if an athlete comes to us to do the baseline, we have that baseline score. If they have a concussion and they come to us for treatment, we can re-test them and compare it to that baseline.”

Concussions often vary from case to case, so recovery times can be wildly varied as well. In general, however, once an athlete has been diagnosed with a concussion and started down the road to recovery, it’s going to be at least a week before they’re ready for hard physical activity again.

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“It really varies from athlete to athlete, but that (seven to ten days) is kind of a minimum you’re looking at starting at,” Vis said. “Then there are also return-to-learn and return-to-play that we kind of work them through. That alone takes them a week to work through. That starts right from rest, once they don’t have any symptoms, back up to them being involved in some exercise and eventually returning to play.”

Limiting screen time is a good idea for an athlete who has suffered a concussion as well, allowing their brain to rest. While young athletes may be eager to return to play and try to rush back, it’s in their best interest to hold off, as concussions can have far-reaching impacts on the brain if not treated with care.

“Worst-case scenario, it can affect all different aspects of someone’s life, whether it’s physical, mental, or emotional,” Zawislak said. “Simple tasks may become more difficult to do. The mental part of it, they may be dealing with confusion or not being able to concentrate, those kinds of things.”

According to Brain Injury Canada, there are about 200,000 concussions in Canada every year.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP