As sports injury specialists, our Princeton Sports and Family Medicine P.C. team regularly diagnoses and treats concussions.
Because it’s an injury to the brain, a concussion can have a wide range of signs and symptoms, and many are slow to emerge.
Symptoms of a concussion generally fall into four categories:
Today, we’ll examine the cognitive and emotional impacts. Sometimes, these are challenging to recognize and treat.
A concussion is defined as transient nuerologic dysfunction that lasts more than 48 hours after an injury. A concusion is a traumatic injury of the brain usually resulting from an impact to the body or head. A concussion causes changes to brain function and neural chemistry. Remember, not all blows to the head cause concussions.
While falls are the most common cause, concussions are also a frequent sports injury, particularly in activities that include body contact. Any trauma that causes the brain to move inside the skull is a potential cause of concussion.
Physical and sleep-related symptoms of a concussion are easier to recognize. These include headaches, nausea, vomiting, insomnia, or oversleeping. Cognitive and emotional signs can be subtle, especially when they emerge slowly after the initial injury.
The cognitive effects of concussion can be mild or severe. They impact how your brain processes information.
The most common and easy-to-recognize cognitive sign of concussion is dazed behavior or sluggish thinking. You may need to think longer than usual to answer questions like, “What’s your name?” or “What year is it?”
You may feel dizzy or off-balance. Also, you may experience blurry or double vision. You might also become sensitive to light or sounds.
Logical thinking, concentration, memory, and following conversations or instructions can be challenging. Sometimes friends and family members recognize the signs and symptoms before the person with the concussion does.
Emotional effects are often difficult to spot.
Some emotional changes are a normal part of the injury, including frustration related to physical pain. However, these may or may not be related to the concussion.
Common emotional symptoms include anxiety and depression. For example, you may be unusually worried about the injury, or you could be experiencing sadness or depression out of proportion with the injury.
Emotional effects may be displayed in parts of your life not related to the concussion. If you or someone close to you expresses anger or irritability at odds with normal behavior, it could be a sign of concussion-caused depression.
Although it’s rare, mania, including aggression, impulsiveness, and loss of inhibitions, can be signs of the emotional impact of concussion.
It’s important to be on the alert for any changes after a potential concussion event. Visit us at Princeton Sports and Family Medicine, P.C. as a safety precaution or as the first symptoms emerge.
Request an appointment online or by telephone today.
