A concussion (Mild traumatic brain injury, mTBI) is the impairment of brain function after an injury without damage to blood vessels. There is a loss of consciousness because the communication between neurons is disrupted. The Glasgow Coma Scale is used to assess the victim’s consciousness. Although a concussion is a severe nervous system disorder, timely treatment and diagnosis can reduce amnesia, confusion, disorientation, and any subsequent complications. According to the physical assessment and treatment plan after a concussion, tolerance impairment screening allows one to establish the presence of physical abnormalities. Psychological and sociological factors should be evaluated in evaluating the effects of a concussion.
Rest is a critical recommendation in the prevention of concussion complications. Physiological rest is necessary for an extended period to allow the body to regain lost neural connections. However, no therapeutically proven effect of prolonged physical rest has been reported by Howard et al. (2018). Instead, the authors point out that physical activity can bring back brain activity: however, the main limitation is a gradual increase in load and reintroduction to the environment. Silverberg and Otamendi (2019) believe that mental activity promotes cognitive retention regarding psychological or cognitive rest. In addition, learning the right combination of physical and cognitive load will lead to a return of symptoms, which indicates the body’s recovery and adaptation to the stress experienced. The return of cognitive load will eliminate problems of reactive anxiety or depression. Prolonged rest, on the contrary, led to withdrawal from daily life and resulted in isolation (Silverberg & Otamendi, 2019). Thus, lengthy load avoidance cannot be a strict clinical recommendation.
Terms:
- Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) – built from words, acronym, no combining vowels;
- Amnesia – not built from words, neither eponym nor acronym, no combining vowel;
- Glasgow Coma Scale – built from words, acronym, no combining vowels.
References
Howard, A., Schwaiger, T., Silverberg, N., & Panenka, W. (2018). Concussion management: time to give “brain rest” a rest. The University of British Columbia.
Silverberg, N. D., & Otamendi, T. (2019). Advice to rest for more than 2 days after mild traumatic brain injury is associated with delayed return to productivity: A case-control study. Frontiers in Neurology.