As the last installment in this series on concussions, we’ve touched on the symptoms and dangers of concussions as well as put the spotlight on our special guests, Harriet Owen and the Lynn Family Vision Training Center. When it comes to treatment methods and rehabilitation, both of our spotlight partners give great advice and examples of healthy ways to recondition your brain after a head injury.
Why Would You Need Reconditioning After a Concussion?
The brain accounts for 20% of the body’s energy use and plays a massive part in controlling bodily functions as a big part of the central nervous system, such as thought, memory, emotion, touch, motor skills, vision, breathing, temperature, hunger, perception, and practically every other process that you associate with the body. That’s pretty important, right? So, if you would go to the doctor after you hurt your foot because you don’t like the pain and inconvenience it presents in your daily activities that you need that foot for, why wouldn’t you go after a brain injury when every activity needs the brain?
While they are quite elastic, there is only so much that a brain can recover from on its own. With the help of rehabilitation habits and other emerging treatments, you can come back even stronger. But if neglected, brain functions can deteriorate over the course of a concussion. As Dr. Mark Lynn says, “The brain is injured until it is fixed.” And it can’t always do that on its own. In fact, people have been known to experience symptoms and effects of concussions long after doctors or trainers give them the green light to return to daily life when no rehabilitation was pursued; this is called post-concussion syndrome, and it can last for months or even years.
But the name ‘post-concussion syndrome’ is misleading because sometimes, it’s not ‘post-concussion’; it’s an active concussion at work that will continue to affect brain functions until addressed.
Harriet Owen began spiraling with what other doctors would label ‘post-concussion syndrome.’ Once she received the correct diagnosis, she found results when she partnered up with Lynn Family Vision and Dr. Tad Seifert, who were able to guide her out of the habits she had formed early in the concussion.
With so much variation in the advice for treatment and recovery from concussions, what are the “do’s and don’ts” that come from the experts and the experienced?
Do’s and Don’ts of Concussion Recovery
From Lynn Family Vision
With as much cutting-edge technology and innovative treatment methods that Lynn Family Vision has available, along with the years of experience researching and working directly with both vision and neuro-optometric patients, there’s a lot of advice to be taken from the Lynns.
The very first piece of advice they would give is to be very wary of traditional treatment methods. Loved ones with your best interests at heart or outdated internet articles might tell you that a dark room to rest your brain is the best way to go, but that is the worst advice to follow!
Dr. Mark Lynn maintains, along with several other leading researchers in the area (like the University of Michigan), that near immediate cognitive exercise can decrease the time needed for recovery. Not to any extremes, as overworking a concussed brain can worsen a concussion, but something as simple as bouncing a ball at night and trying to focus on precision and accuracy is one of his go-to recovery methods that almost everyone can do.
However, other traditional recovery methods are ones that Dr. Lynn can get behind, such as:
- Limiting or avoiding screen-time
- A gradual re-introduction to normal activities
- Lots of rest
- Being patient with yourself while you work back up to where you were, because your brain will not be at 100% as soon as a doctor or trainer gives you the green light
Lynn Family Vision is fortunate enough to have available innovative new technology that trains the brain through how it perceives the world through the eyes. As neuro-optometric specialists, they are constantly exposed to the effects of concussions and, subsequently, how to right them. Contact Lynn Family Vision today to book an evaluation and create plan of action to re-train your brain for healthier functions.
From Harriet Owen
As Harriet’s situation developed from a lack of proper treatment from the correct doctors, her advice is to not wait to seek out advice from specialists. As soon as you realize that your symptoms are growing or are not going away, the correct help can make all the difference in your recovery journey.
Even if the injury is one you’ve seen or had many times before, there is always a chance that something went differently this time. Women in particular can get concussions easier and on a more severe scale than men, and once someone has gotten a concussion, it will be easier to get an even worse one in the future. Brushing symptoms off because of the perception that ‘you know how to deal with it’ or ‘you don’t think it’s that serious’ or ‘it’s happened before’ has a high potential of making everything worse for much longer and requiring more work to get back to where you were before the injury.
Don’t Wait!
If you or someone you love has suffered a concussion or an injury as a result of a concussion in the Louisville, Kentucky-area, board certified sports medicine physician Dr. Stacie Grossfeld at Orthopaedic Specialists PLLC can help. Orthopaedic Specialists PLLC is accepting new patients, and same day appointments are available. For additional information or to schedule an appointment, please contact Orthopaedic Specialists PLLC today at 502-212-2663.
Recent Comments