Concussion Home, Vancouver, BC (2025)

10/20/2021

🟡Females are more likely to suffer a concussion compared to males, even in gender-matched sports like soccer. The likelihood of sustaining a concussion following an injury to the head or neck is 84% higher in female athletes compared to male athletes.

🔸Past research mainly focused on male subjects but a shift is occurring and differences in concussion symptoms between males and females are being revealed. Acknowledging gender differences in post-concussion symptoms is necessary to implement correct treatment protocols that are individualized and patient specific.

🟣Symptom Severity

🔻Multiple research studies found evidence that females experience more severe post-concussion symptoms and a higher number of symptoms compared to males. Females have a higher risk of developing headaches, dizziness, fatigue, irritability, light sensitivity, drowsiness, and concentration problems compared to males.

🔺Age and type of injury were taken into account so the differences were postulated to be attributed to gender differences. A study found that female athletes are 2.13 times more likely to report post-traumatic migraines compared to males…

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10/03/2021

🔸Concussions can cause damage to the pituitary gland and/or hypothalamus. This is harmful to the body as these structures are responsible for regulating hormones, thus resulting in hormone imbalance. In fact, early signs of hormone imbalance can appear within the first few hours or days after a concussion.

🔹In addition to the physical impacts of hormone imbalance, many concussion survivors will also suffer from social, emotional, mental, and cognitive effects. Therefore, it is imperative to diagnose and treat hormone imbalance.

🟡What is Hypopituitarism?

Hypopituitarism is a hormone imbalance condition that is a common consequence of concussions. Specifically, hypopituitarism occurs when the front and/or back lobe of the pituitary gland is unable to make hormones, which can cause multiple hypothalamic and pituitary deficiencies...

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08/26/2021

🔹Impacts of Concussions on Neurotransmitters

Excessive Neurotransmitter Release

Concussions can cause excessive neurotransmitter release. This is harmful as it can result in permanent damage and/or functional impairment. Research has found that concussions can specifically cause an excessive release of glutamate.

🟢Serotonin Disturbance

The frontal lobes are a major area for the serotonin neurotransmitter system. However, injury to the left frontal lobe is associated with depression after a concussion. Therefore, it is not surprising that post-concussion depression is very common. Depression is also linked to serotonin disturbance post-concussion because depression impacts the serotonin neurotransmitter system. Serotonin dysfunction or imbalance may also be caused through prolonged stress, which is also commonly experienced among concussion survivors. Research has also found that there are differences in serotonin function between non-depressed vs. depressed concussion survivors…

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08/20/2021

🍺 More than half of all traumatic brain injuries are directly or indirectly caused by alcohol with a large number of patients having elevated blood alcohol levels at the time of the injury. Specifically, binge drinking, defined as having 5 or more drinks on one occasion, is associated with TBI more than chronic drinking and is a risk factor for sustaining such injury.

🍷Traumatic brain injuries linked to alcohol are primarily due to falls, moving vehicle crashes, and assaults. Among all trauma patients, high blood alcohol is more common in patients presenting with head injuries.

🔹Following a TBI, alcohol consumption usually drops due to factors such as:

1) Lack of access to alcohol in the care facilities

2) Physical disabilities associated with TBI

3) Advice to abstain from drinking from health care providers

4) Possible side effects with medications

🔴The use and misuse of alcohol during the recovery period can reduce the efficacy of rehabilitation. It increases the likelihood of developing seizures, mood and anxiety disorders, and subsequent TBIs…

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08/05/2021

🟢The majority of sports-related traumatic brain injuries are concussions with 1.6 to 3.8 million sports-related concussions occurring annually in the United States. The number of concussions diagnosed continues to rise due to enhanced public awareness and concerns regarding such injuries.

🔷Some factors predict longer recovery time and these include a history of concussions, birth trauma, pediatric head injury, seizures, migraines, neurodevelopmental disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning disabilities, sleep disorders, motion sickness, mood disorders, and psychosocial stress. Right after the injury, loss of consciousness, amnesia, and a greater number of symptoms observed on the field predict a longer recovery time.

🔻Which factors increase the risks of sports-related concussions?
1️⃣Age: Children between the ages of 10-14 have the highest incidence of sports-related TBIs recorded at emergency rooms. The majority of these injuries are produced by recreational activities like bicycling, football, and playground activities. For high-schoolers, football and soccer have the highest concussion rates but more generally, collision and contact sports such as hockey, basketball, and football have higher concussion rates than non-contact sports like track…

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07/22/2021

🍎 Returning to school after enduring a concussion is a positive step towards recovery from a brain injury. Parents often feel scared, anxious, or uneasy about sending their children back to school due to the risk of another injury while playing, in addition to the cognitive demands of the classroom environment.

🍏 However, for a holistic recovery, a collaborative effort between the parents, physicians, clinicians, and even the teacher is recommended to provide the optimal recovery environment. So what can teachers do to support their students who have experienced a concussion?

🔛Reduce the workload and modify assignments: Breaking down assignments into smaller more manageable pieces is an effective measure to reduce the demands on the student and their cognitive faculties.
Provide frequent breaks: This will help them stay more focused on the task at hand but, more importantly, it allows them to rest.

✍️ Allow for more time to complete assignments and tests. It is recommended to avoid testing initially to reduce stress and the demands on the brain.

💡 Reduce sensory stimulation such as light and sound. Some studies suggest using sunglasses in class to reduce light intensity. The student can also be seated away from windows and the lights could be dimmed. As for sound, the teacher should discuss strategies to limit noise in the class with the rest of the students since it requires a collaborative effort. It would also be effective to allow the student to have lunch and breaks in a quiet location, unlike the cafeteria…

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07/16/2021

❣️According to research, fostering social support during concussion recovery may help decrease anxiety and depression, as well as enhance community integration.

🧚‍♀️This is beneficial as concussion has been linked to anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges. It has also been found that social support can improve psychosocial and emotional functioning. Improving psychosocial and emotional functioning are pivotal during concussion recovery because this can improve the prognosis of concussions.

🔹For example, improving emotional functioning can help concussion patients regulate their emotions and develop coping mechanisms for their mental health.

🟡Personal identity is also incredibly important for concussion survivors. Social support is crucial for the reconstruction of personal identity as when concussion survivors receive proper social support and validation, it is easier for them to reconstruct their identities.

Unfortunately, most concussion survivors report low social support from their social network and healthcare providers. This stresses the urgency for caregivers, family members, friends, peers, colleagues and healthcare providers to actively provide support, empathy, and validation of suffering and pain…

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07/08/2021

🤕Concussions often result in cognitive impairments, balance deficit, mood disturbances, and a range of other symptoms. But what happens when a person experiences multiple concussions?

🏈Athletes, especially those playing contact sports like ice hockey or football, are at an increased risk of sustaining multiple concussions. It is estimated that a third of all individuals who have sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) will experience another one. For instance, previous studies found that college football players with a concussion history are more likely to sustain another concussion compared to players who have never had a concussion.

🏑The effects of sustaining multiple concussions

🔷Past studies of athletes with a history of concussions revealed that those who have sustained three or more concussions took longer to recover compared to those with one or no previous concussion. More specifically, those who have sustained three or more concussions had more enhanced unresolved impairment on cognitive tasks eight days after their concussion compared with athletes who had one concussion…

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07/02/2021

🎶What is Music Therapy?

Music therapy is a type of intervention that uses music and its elements to help improve quality of life, as well as physical, emotional, and intellectual health. It can be used in clinical practice, private practice, and community or educational settings. Patients can choose to have individual sessions or group sessions with other patients. During music therapy sessions, the music therapist and patient(s) actively interact with music and/or its elements.

🎵When is Music Therapy Used?

🟡Music therapy can be used to help people of different ages and medical conditions. Below is a list of some medical conditions that can benefit from music therapy:

Depression
Anxiety
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Hearing Impairment
Visual Impairment
Speech Impairments
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Emotional Trauma
Physical Disabilities
Chronic Pain
Cancer

🟢Music Therapy Methods
There are two types of music therapy methods:

Active music therapy methods are used when patients “make music”. Specifically, these methods may include music composition, improvisation and/or other creative music elements.
Receptive music therapy methods are used when patients “receive” or listen to music…

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Have any of you tried music therapy before? Did it help with your symptoms? We’d love to hear your stories below 👇

06/25/2021

🧠Traumatic brain injuries are a leading cause of disability and death worldwide. In Canada, approximately 160,000 people sustain traumatic brain injuries each year with 11,000 deaths and over 6,000 cases of permanent disability. However, around 75% of all TBI incidents are considered mild, commonly referred to as a concussion, and are rarely fatal.

❤️‍🩹Classification

TBI can be classified into primary and secondary injuries. Primary injuries are those that occur at the time of injury as a result of the sustained impact and include hematomas or brain bleeds. Secondary injuries occur hours and days after the initial injury and typically result from the biochemical cascade that follows which could result in inflammation, decreased cerebral blood flow, and neuronal death.

🔆Some treatments and preventive measures are used to delay or decrease these secondary injuries and reduce their impact on brain structure and function.

🔰Types of head injuries

Head injuries and TBI are often broken up into 2 types: open and closed head injuries. Open head injuries are ones that pe*****te the skull and damage the brain and can be caused by objects such as bullets or knives. In contrast, closed head injuries are caused by blunt, overpressure, or accelerative forces that keep the skull intact but damage the brain…

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06/17/2021

🐕What is Animal-Assisted Therapy?

Animal-assisted therapy is an innovative therapy that uses animals as a motivating factor to improve treatment. This form of therapy is implemented with other existing types of neurorehabilitation.

🌼There are two approaches of animal-assisted therapy:

Direct Approach: The animal is actively involved in the rehabilitation sessions.
Indirect Approach: The animal is not actively involved in the session and is merely present in the room with the patient.

Why is Animal-Assisted Therapy Beneficial?

🐈Research has shown that therapeutic animals can induce positive emotions among humans. This is beneficial as therapy outcomes are improved when patients have positive emotions.

🦔Animal-assisted therapy has been shown to provide companionship and emotional support as well as decrease anxiety among patients, thereby improving rehabilitation outcomes.

🦥Animal-assisted therapy induces higher motivation among concussion patients. Due to this, patients are more motivated and engaged during their rehabilitation sessions. This motivation can also be beneficial for daily activities…

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06/10/2021

💡What is near-infrared light therapy (NILT)?

🔶Near-infrared light therapy takes advantage of the fact that near infrared light passes efficiently through the skull and thus it is able to reach the damaged brain regions. Near-infrared light of 800-900 nm wavelength light is typically used and it merges with the red spectrum of visible light (600 nm wavelength light). This light is passed to the brain using external low-power lasers or by light-emitting diode (LED) placed externally on the head with the light penetrating the skull and reaching brain matter. There is no standard delivery time yet, but in one clinical trial, NIR light was applied three times per week for 6 weeks on eleven brain sites for 10 minutes per site.

🔺When using animal models to test its effectiveness, NILT led to the repair and recovery of damaged brain tissue. In human clinical trials, NILT improved cognitive function, particularly executive functioning and verbal memory, in chronic mild-TBI patients. It also helped improve psychological symptoms consistent with PTSD, anxiety, and depression.

🔹Sleep and mood improvements were also observed as well as a reduction in suicidal thoughts. These neurological and psychological benefits are not immediately observed following the treatment as it takes 1-4 weeks and multiple sessions to notice improvement.

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