How to Treat a Concussion
A concussion is one of the most serious injuries that a person can suffer, resulting in short term effects like headaches, memory loss and trouble sleeping.
If left untreated, a concussion can result in long term brain damage, greatly affecting your day to day functioning and ability to enjoy your life. Unfortunately, because few people are familiar with concussions, it is very easy to mishandle treatment and cause lasting damage.
If you believe you’ve suffered a concussion, it’s important to act quickly and decisively in order to mitigate the effects. Here are a few ways to treat a concussion, and find out how you can get treatment advice and assistance from a local medical professional.
Get a Medical Evaluation
No matter how you’ve suffered a concussion, it’s important that you get a medical evaluation as soon as possible. Like most injuries, concussions vary in terms of severity, making it crucial that you learn the extent of your injury early on.
By examining how your eyes respond to light exposure, probing your cognitive functioning and giving you tests such as a CT scan, your doctor will be able to gauge the extent of your concussion. With more severe concussions, you may be admitted to the hospital for observation. For minor concussions, however, treatment at home will usually suffice.
Reduce Your Social Activity
The primary focus in treating a concussion will be to reduce the stress on your brain, giving it time to heal in a controlled environment. Once your sleep restriction is lifted—a precautionary measure with brain injuries—you should rest as much as possible. Sleeping will allow your brain to recover much quicker than it would otherwise.
Secondly, you must lower your social activity as much as possible. Take off of work for a few days and clear your social calendar so that you can stay at home and give your brain time to recover from your concussion. Resting your brain will help you bounce back from your concussion and will reduce the long term effects.
Avoid Electronics or Other Stimuli
The next step in treating a concussion is usually the most difficult, but it is important that you follow these recommendations if you want to make a full recovery. While resting, you must eliminate all stimuli that could tax your brain. In addition to eliminating your social activities, you must also avoid bright lights, reading, watching television or using electronics like your cell phone or computer.
Although your recovery from your concussion will likely be dull, a little boredom is much preferable to having long term cognitive effects that interfere with your ability to live your life the way you want.
Treat a Concussion Under Supervision
With the right medical advice, you should be able to effectively treat your concussion at home. However, if your symptoms don’t clear up, or get worse, then you need to seek medical help as soon as possible. Treat a concussion with the help of one of the knowledgeable medical professionals you can find through Complete Injury Management.
We help connect residents of Phoenix with the area’s best medical professionals, and we would be happy to help you. Search for a medical provider through Complete Injury Management and get the expert treatment that you need.
