So You Have Questions...
Frequently Asked Questions - FAQ
Your best bet is always to be evaluated if you are concerned about a concussion. The earlier you are evaluated, diagnosis made, and symptoms are documented, the sooner treatment can begin, if needed, and the higher your chances of quick, long-term full recovery become.
Recovery from a concussion occurs in many ways. Proper recovery and management are based on the areas of involvement. There is no single cure for a concussion; that is why it is so important to have a proper diagnosis made. However, there are many different routes for treatment and healing for concussions depending on where we find your specific problem areas.
Our initial evaluation takes about an hour. During that time, you will see two doctors and have every aspect of your concussion evaluated to determine where we need to do further testing. Once we finish, we will schedule you for any other appointments to evaluate you so we can get you better.
Neurologists are like the quarterbacks of concussion care. The extensive training and expertise of a neurologist allow for an in-depth and targeted evaluation of all of your symptoms. Our neurology team has years of experience with traumatic brain injuries on top of general neurology. However, we recognize that concussion care is an interdisciplinary approach, and that is why we also have audiologists/certified brain injury specialists working in partnership with our neurology team.
Post-Concussion Syndrome, by definition, is simply the existence of symptoms of a concussion that have lasted longer than 90 days (3 months). The initial part of our exam is the same as for our concussion patients under this threshold, but other tests may be ordered specific to post-concussion syndrome (PCS) if there is suspicion of PCS.
When you come in for your first appointment, we will have you fill out a questionnaire about the accident/trauma, you will speak with and be evaluated by our neurology team, and you will also speak with and be evaluated by our audiology/certified brain injury specialist team. At the end of your appointment, we go over any findings we have initially, what our plan is for any follow-up testing, imaging, or outside referrals we are recommending, and then we set up your next appointments so that we can get you better.
A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury. The term concussion is actually the exact same thing as a mild traumatic brain injury or mTBI. A concussion is just the term for the group of symptoms that are associated with an mTBI.
A concussion is an emergency when there are symptoms like repeated vomiting, loss of consciousness, prolonged amnesia or confusion, headaches/head pressure that are getting worse, and any kind of seizure activity.
Concussions are diagnosed by assessing the six main areas discussed earlier – cognitive function, vestibular, ocular-motor, headaches, cervical issues, and anxiety/mood/behavioral disorders. Once we know exactly where the problems are, we can prescribe specific therapies and or treatments options for the different areas. In many cases, we are able to begin treatment and management of your symptoms after our first appointment.