The third Friday of every September is National Concussion Awareness Day. This year, it fell on September 18th. The CDC estimates about 1.9 to 3.8 million people a year get a concussion in the United States. In addition, about 30% of people in the United States experience a concussion at least once in their lifetime. Every concussion is different, and your recovery time will vary from another person’s. Common symptoms of concussions include: headaches, dizziness, nausea or vomiting, imbalance, and sensitivity to light or sounds. Other symptoms people may experience are blurry or double vision, slurred speech, and even seizures.
Concussions are most common amongst athletes. The top sports leading to concussions for teens or young adults are football, soccer, wrestling, lacrosse, and cheerleading. However, there are countless ways to receive a concussion excluding sports. So, it is important to go to a doctor to seek medical advice and evaluate the severity of your head injury. Most doctors will give you the standard concussion protocol, and advise you to pause all physical activities temporarily and lighten school workload.
A concussion is an invisible injury; your brain is injured, and it takes time to heal. You do not get a special bandage or hat to show you are concussed, nobody can see it. You go to school, the grocery store, a friend’s house, and nobody is able to tell you are physically injured. Because of this, most people do not get as much support as they need from their community.
As someone who has experienced many concussions, here are my thoughts. People think of concussions as a quick and easy injury to deal with. To some that may be the case, but no concussion is the same. My first ever concussion was a martial arts injury that took me five whole months to recover from. We were practicing takedown methods, and my partner had tossed me onto my neck, which I landed on. I was in a neck brace for a month, experienced severe amnesia, and it felt like I had to start my life all over again. I unfortunately had yet another concussion on National Concussion Awareness Day, which was also my birthday.
The more concussions you experience, the more vulnerable you become to them, and the recovery time will take longer too. However, “recovery” is a very subjective term. You no longer have a concussion, yet you have to ease back into how things were before. You cannot just jump right back into your normal activities. This is why most people are on “concussion watch” for a few weeks after they heal from a concussion. Your brain has just gotten back to normal and needs to stay strong, as you are more prone to concussion than ever at this time. Some people also develop post-concussion syndrome, which is when you still experience the daily symptoms of a concussion, however they are not as severe. This can last anywhere from a few weeks to even a few years for people. Therefore, it is important for the people around you, such as teachers, friends, and family to truly understand what you are going through so they can give you the support you need.
Activities to Do While Recovering from a Concussion:
- Bake something new!
- Play with fidget toys
- Build a lego set
- Invite a friend over to have an in-person conversation due to limited screens
- Great alternative to #4 is to call people, audio only
- Draw or do a paint by number
- Pack for a vacation to _____
By: Hannah Li ‘28, Staff Writer
28hli@montroseschool.org
