Despite increased attention in recent years due to their prevalence, concussions remain the victim of a lot of misunderstanding. Part of the reason is the range in severity of concussions. Symptoms of concussion can be relatively mild, like a headache, or quite severe, like long-term post-concussion syndrome. The lack of understanding leaves many people trying to answer the same question. How long does it take to recover from a concussion?
What is a Concussion?
According to the Brain Injury Association of America, concussions are a head injury “caused by a blow or jolt to the head or by a hit to the body that causes the head and brain to move back and forth”.
Your brain ‘floats’ inside your skull, suspended in cerebrospinal fluid. When your head moves suddenly due to trauma, your brain can crash against the walls of your skull, causing a concussion. They are most often due to contact sports injuries, car accidents or slips and falls where you strike your head.
Concussion Recovery Times
Generally, concussion recovery times can range from a couple days to many months. Like any injury, it takes longer to recover from severe traumatic brain injuries that might cause loss of consciousness, than from mild traumatic brain injuries, that may cause nothing more than a headache. But many other factors can affect recovery times.
- A History of Concussions – People with one or more previous concussions will likely need longer to recover fully from a concussion. Each concussion will add to the recovery time of the next one.
- If the Person is Already Concussed – If someone who is recovering from a concussion suffers another one, healing times can be extended exponentially.
- Access to the Correct Health Care – From base-line testing to post-concussion CT scans, there are a number of health care practices that can help in diagnosing concussions, understanding their severity and reducing healing times.
Symptoms of Concussions
Short-term concussion symptoms include seeing bright lights, disorientation, dizziness and unconsciousness.
Longer-term symptoms can affect a person’s overall health, including post-concussion syndrome where headaches and dizziness last for weeks, and mental health issues, including depression and anxiety.
PinPoint Health is proud to be a Konkussion-certified clinic in Markham for concussion treatment and management.
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