Home treatment for concussion
Damage to the brain tissue after exposure from the outside, resulting from contact with the bones of the skull, is called a concussion. This injury can occur not only from a bruise or blow to the head, but also from a sudden movement. A car accident, home or work injury, sporting events - in all these situations, there is the possibility of a concussion.
If in the first minutes after the injury there is a person nearby who can provide qualified assistance, you can avoid some complications and significantly reduce the rehabilitation period. Concussion is classified according to the degree of damage to the meninges. With a mild form, the patient receives outpatient treatment, with moderate and severe - medical care is provided exclusively in a hospital.
Content:
- Signs of a concussion
- What to do in case of a concussion?
- What examinations do I need?
- Compliance with the daily routine
- Treatment of concussion with medication
- Disease prognosis
- When can you play sports after a concussion?
Signs of a concussion
To assess the condition of an injured person, you need to know the main signs of a concussion:
- The main symptom is loss of consciousness, which can last from several minutes to several hours;
- Nausea and vomiting that appeared after the restoration of consciousness;
- Intense headache, dizziness;
- Not symmetrical pupil sizes;
- Lack of focus, double vision or a veil obscuring the look;
- Seizures;
- Photophobia, intolerance to strong sounds;
- Drowsiness, weakness, general malaise;
- Impaired coordination of movement;
- Disjointed speech, uncoordinated movements;
- Body temperature close to normal.
With a mild degree of concussion, only a few of the above are diagnosed. The child's body can react with similar symptoms even to a minor injury.
What to do in case of a concussion?
Doctors briefly describe the basic requirements for measures taken in case of concussion: "Hunger, cold and rest." They are adhered to during the treatment of a patient in a hospital or at home. Before he is provided with qualified assistance, it is necessary to alleviate the condition of a person with a similar injury, to reduce the risk of possible complications.
Algorithm of actions in the first minutes after a concussion before the arrival of an ambulance:
- If the victim is conscious, he must be laid on a flat surface with a raised head.
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An unconscious patient may die due to suffocation due to the ingestion of vomit into the lungs or sinking of the tongue. To avoid this, you need to put the injured person on the right side, carefully turn the head face down and to the right, bend the left arm at the elbow and the left leg at the knee. Before that, you need to make sure that a person with a concussion does not have limb fractures.
- To facilitate breathing, take off tight clothing, loosen belts, belts, ties, scarves. If the air is cold, cover the patient with a blanket. All these measures are impossible with visible signs of spinal cord injury - limb numbness and loss of sensitivity. In this state, it is generally impossible to carry and turn over the victim.
- Ice is applied to the head, in its absence - any products from the freezer of the refrigerator.
- Wounds on the head are treated with any aseptic solution, a sterile bandage is applied.
- For pain relief, give the victim, who is conscious, analgesics. Any portion of liquid can provoke profuse vomiting in a person with a concussion, so it is undesirable to drink it or give only a minimal amount of water or sweet cool tea.
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For complete control over the situation, the victim should not be allowed to fall asleep, fall into unconsciousness. They talk to him within the first hour after the injury, if possible, they ask him to answer questions.
- If possible, the patient is transported on a hard surface to a hospital on his own using any available transport.
- It is strongly discouraged to feed a victim, even with a mild concussion, in the first hours after the injury.
Any drugs are prescribed by the attending physician after a thorough examination of the depth of the brain damage.
What examinations do I need?
Diagnostic measures will help to obtain an objective clinical picture of brain damage:
- X-ray of the cervical vertebrae and skull bones - determines possible displacement of the vertebrae, cracks, bone fractures;
- encephalography, echoencephaloscopy - determines possible focal vascular lesions;
- CT (computed tomography) - determines changes in brain structures in complex combined injuries;
- fundus examination - determines probable hematomas, hemorrhages after brain injury.
Compliance with the daily routine
After a complete examination and prescribing medication by the doctor, the patient with a mild concussion can continue to treat the concussion at home.
To restore health faster, you need to follow these recommendations:
- For any degree of concussion, it is recommended to stay in bed for 3 to 5 days. A sick leave for this injury is issued on average for 10-14 days.
- It is necessary to temporarily stop using a computer, TV, smartphone, reading ordinary books and using their electronic counterparts, communicating in large volumes.
- Patients are not recommended psycho-emotional overload. Their loved ones should protect their loved ones with a concussion from worries, stressful situations.
- In case of photophobia, it is advisable to create a subdued light background in the room, to cover the windows with blinds, thick curtains.
- The relief of headaches, often observed after a concussion, is carried out without fail with drugs prescribed by a doctor in the recommended dosage.
Symptoms of the mild form of the disease are significantly reduced after 3-7 days with careful implementation of the above recommendations. The absence of positive dynamics, deterioration of the patient's health should cause concern. Bleeding from the nose and ears is especially dangerous. In this case, urgent medical attention is required.
Treatment of concussion with medication
In most cases of concussion treatment, maintaining calmness and creating the conditions for healthy sleep is sufficient. Medications are used to eliminate symptoms accompanying the condition after an injury, such as headaches, sleep disturbances, psycho-emotional overstrain.
Drugs that restore the normal functioning of the brain:
- Analgesics - Pentalgin, Maksigan, Analgin, Sedalgin, Dexalgin;
- For the prevention of dizziness - Belloid, Tanakan, Cinnarazine, Microzer, Platyphyllin + Papaverine;
- Soothing - Valocordin, motherwort or valerian tincture, Corvalol;
- Tranquilizers - Afobazol, Nozepam, Grandaksin, Rudotel, Sibazon, Phenazepam;
- Sleeping pills - Relaxon, Donormil;
- A combination of vascular therapy and drugs to restore brain metabolism - nootropics (Glycine, Nootropil, Noopept, Pantogam) and vascular agents (Cavinton, Instenon, Sermion, Stugeron).
- Preparations with magnesium - Magne B6, Panangin, Magnelis;
- Antioxidants - Cytoflavin, Mildronate;
- Preparations against manifestations of asthenia - Fenotropil, Kogitum, Vasobral;
- Multivitamins with minerals;
- Tonics - Pantocrinum, ginseng extract, lemongrass, eleutherococcus, Saporal.
- Anti-sclerotic drugs used in elderly patients.
Even after the end of treatment, a patient with a concussion remains on the dispensary for a year after the injury.
Disease prognosis
In the absence of complex combined lesions of the central nervous system and careful observance of medical recommendations, the injury does not leave any complications and ends with complete rehabilitation.
Within 3-12 months after a concussion, some patients may experience the following symptoms:
- Decreased memory;
- Decreased concentration of attention;
- Depression symptoms;
- Unreasonable anxiety;
- Headaches;
- Insomnia;
- Intolerance to bright light and loud sounds;
Over time, these manifestations, in whole or in part, "come to naught."
When can you play sports after a concussion?
Sports medicine professionals disagree on the return to full-fledged sports. In most cases, a step-by-step approach is used to return to full-load workouts. It consists in completely relieving symptoms and returning to sports through low-intensity training. If the vital signs tracking has shown good results over time, it is recommended to gradually increase the load until it returns to the previous level.
The solution to the problem of rehabilitation of athletes with a concussion was proposed in 2013 at a scientific conference of specialists in sports medicine.
Post-traumatic stress build-up system:
- Complete rest for a day after complete relief of the symptoms of concussion.
- Performing light aerobic activities (walking).
- Performing exercises specific to each sport, excluding even accidental blows to the head.
- The transition to non-contact types of loads (for example, in basketball - practicing throws).
- Complete a full physical contact workout program.
- Transfer to the team's playing line-up.
The absence of concussion symptoms means that you can resume training within a week. Incomplete recovery, deterioration in health indicates the need to go back a step according to the proposed scheme. A short rest will allow you to move further along the path of rehabilitation.
The author of the article: Volkov Dmitry Sergeevich | c. m. n. surgeon, phlebologist
Education: Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry (1996). In 2003 he received a diploma from the Educational and Scientific Medical Center of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation.
