Symptoms and recovery of mild traumatic brain injury and concussion
Concussion is the most common type of brain injury. If you believe someone may have a concussion, seek medical help on an urgent basis by setting up an examination with a doctor or by visiting your nearest urgent care clinic or emergency department.
Symptoms
The initial signs and symptoms of concussion can include:
- Headache
- Dizziness
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Slurred speech
- Feeling dazed, disoriented, or confused
- Loss of memory of events surrounding the injury
- Brief loss of consciousness
Most people recover fully within a few weeks after a concussion, although for some, symptoms may last longer. People with certain risk factors, such as experiencing multiple concussions, are more likely to experience longer lasting symptoms. Symptoms are a normal part of recovery, and it is common to have some symptoms during the healing process.
Common symptoms during recovery
Symptoms people commonly experience while recovering include:
- Physical: headache pain, neck pain, dizziness or balance problems, sensitivity to lights and sounds, visual difficulties
- Thinking and communication: Foggy or slow thinking, difficulty finding words, difficulty organizing thoughts, difficulty staying focused, trouble remembering things
- Emotions and behavior: Sadness, anger, irritability, frustration, anxiety
- Sleep: Fatigue, difficulty falling and staying asleep, sleeping more or less than usual
Pursue active recovery
Most mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI) and concussions resolve quickly, and people fully recover. For some, symptoms may last a little longer. Research shows that using strategies to stay active from the beginning of the process promotes optimal recovery.
Here’s more information about the active recovery approach, why it works, and helpful tips to use during the process of getting better following mTBI and concussion.
What is active recovery?
Active recovery means staying engaged in daily activities and letting how you feel drive how much you do, and how much you don’t do.
People’s brains and bodies need to rest for a short period after injury (just a few days) and then activity can gradually increase. It is critical to avoid activities which could result in another injury, but light activity is recommended.
During active recovery, your goal should be to slowly increase the length of time and intensity of activities, depending on your comfort levels. Be sure to stick with activities you’ve been cleared to do by your healthcare provider.
Why does active recovery work?
Research shows that people recover faster when they remain active and stay engaged with their social connections.
After concussion or mTBI, it is common to be more sensitive to different sights, sounds, movements, and environments. Your brain may need practice processing this incoming information to reduce its sensitivity, which can lead to overall symptom reduction.
While it may be helpful to temporarily avoid or reduce activities or time in environments that increase symptoms, avoiding things altogether or stopping things that are only very minimally bothersome may increase sensitivities, worsen symptoms, and prolong recovery times.
Active recovery works because it allows you to find a comfortable level of activity to make it easier to manage common symptoms of concussion and mTBI. The level of activity is gradually increased so you can get back to all of the things that are important to you faster and in a healthy way.
Tips for managing recovery with the Four P’s strategy
To manage my symptoms and support an active recovery, try the Four P’s Strategy — plan, prioritize, position, pace — to find ways to modify participation in things like social activities, sporting events, school, and work. As you increase participation, monitor how you are doing. Consider what is working well, and what you might try to do differently.
- Plan: Think about what you need to do in advance. If you know an activity may bother you, it may help to plan out breaks ahead of time or generally limit the amount of time you spend doing that activity.
- Using scheduling tools like a phone app or day planner can help you feel less overwhelmed and in better control of your recovery. Writing your plan down and setting reminders can help you stay organized and reduce the load on your brain.
- Prioritize: Focus on what is important and on how you feel. Consider scheduling important things to do when you have the most energy and feel the best. Important activities may be tasks with deadlines, tasks someone else is counting on you to finish, or tasks that have higher importance.
- Position: Adjust yourself and your environment for success. Environments that are noisy, bright, or busy can require more brain effort and energy. This can increase your symptoms. Small changes, like asking to sit in a quieter area of a restaurant, can have a big impact on how you feel.
- Pace: Take regular breaks during activities that take more energy and focus. Plan to take regular breaks during activities and when symptoms increase. Doing relaxing activities like going for a short walk, stretching, taking deep relaxing breaths, meditating, listening to soft music, or spending time with a pet are active ways to rest for short periods between activities that may increase common symptoms.