The Seriousness of Concussion and How We Can Help.

Concussion is one of the most under reported and under recognized injuries in contact sports. Hockey and football players are among the most likely athletes to suffer a concussion. More recent research has highlighted the importance of monitoring young players to ensure the safety of their brain and nervous system to ensure a healthy future and continued participation in sport.

St. Margaret’s Bay Chiropractic Centre has been in the community since 1994. Our goal is to help our community be healthy and active in all stages of life. Something we have seen far too often is a child sustaining injuries, which can affect their growth and development negatively. Being parents of child athletes ourselves, we know the importance of sport in developing their motor skills and character. However, being chiropractors, we also know the importance of having an optimally functioning brain and nervous system throughout life.

The same way your ankle swells when you sprain it, your brain can swell when you get hit into the boards or fall on the ice. And, just as your ankle can recover with proper rehabilitation, so can your brain. The biggest hurdle in improving a concussion is identifying that it happened.

Hockey Nova Scotia has adopted the “Better Safe Than Sorry” policy. This mandates that if there is any question as to whether or not a child may have sustained a concussion, the next step is always a visit to a qualified health professional. If a concussion has been sustained then return-to-play must be gradual and monitored by a health professional with the help of the team’s coach or trainer. If you or your children play hockey (or another sport that has a high risk of concussion like soccer, football or horsebackriding) having a pre-injury baseline concussion test is extremely important. Dealing with a brain injury is never easy, but having a baseline test makes it easier to track recovery progress.

A concussion test entails a 15 minute exam with one of our doctors who will be checking neurological reflexes, memory, concentration and muscle patterns in the neck. We will keep these records on file at our office. If, throughout the season, a player has no suspected concussions, the next exam would be a re-exam at the beginning of their next season. In the incidence of a suspected concussion, it would be our recommendation to administer a follow-up test within 2 days of the incident.

To get tested, fill out the History & Permission Form and call our office for an appointment today!

Keep Your Head In The Game!