You may already know that concussions are an extremely common occurrence for athletes participating in high school sports, most often in football, ice hockey, field hockey and soccer. Your child doesn’t have to be “knocked out” or experience a loss of consciousness to have had a concussion occur. If an athlete’s mental status changes after a blow to the head (sometimes seemingly mild) it is very likely they have suffered a concussion. The most common physical symptoms include: inability to concentrate, forgetfulness, headaches, fatigue, dizziness, anxiety/depression, and nausea/loss of appetite.
Most concussion symptoms will resolve after about 10 days, and they typically do not last more than 3-4 months, however, there are some cases where concussions lead to persistent complaints of physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral symptoms, sometimes referred to as post-concussion syndrome.
If your child sustains a concussion, seek appropriate medical care for evaluating the severity of the injury. Most high schools perform baseline testing at the beginning of each season so that if an athlete suffers an injury to the head they can retest for post-concussive symptoms, as well as guidelines for return to play and for medical follow-up.
For athletes who experience persistent difficulties after a concussion such as headaches, difficulty concentrating, irritability, sleep disturbances, or dropping grades, an effective treatment plan combining mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy, nutritional support for brain tissue, and sometimes cognitive rehabilitation has proven to yield great success in recovery.
Mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a non-invasive therapy that involves breathing concentrated oxygen while under gentle pressure (the same pressure you experience when flying in an airplane). This combination allows the concentrated oxygen to be pushed into tissues without relying on healthy circulation. Injured tissue generally suffers from poor circulation which slows and complicates healing.
Increasing the oxygen levels in your tissues (brain, muscles, blood, etc.) begins the process of helping your body heal, decrease inflammation, increase your immune function, and increase brain function for improved memory, mood, and sleep.
Here is a list of the many ways mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy helps heal the body.
- Decreases inflammation and pain
- Forces oxygen 400% deeper into bodily tissues
- Saturates plasma with oxygen and promotes healing of all tissue within the body
- Increases white blood cell formation
- Increases stem cell production in the brain and their transfer to the central nervous system
- Has an anti-microbial effect
- Increases circulation and blood flow
- Decreases viral load and bacterial/yeast found systemically and in the gut
- Increases production of serotonin to help with mood and sleep
In our clinic we see great results with brain recovery following stroke, traumatic head injury, and concussions. If you or someone you love is struggling to regain energy, focus, and resolution of headaches, please give our office a call so we can evaluate if hyperbaric oxygen therapy can help relieve your concussive symptoms and get you back (safely) onto the playing field.
