Post Concussion Syndrome – Symptoms, Treatment, Effects, Prognosis

What is Post Concussion Syndrome?

Post Concussion Syndrome is a type of disorder that occur after a damage caused by concussion. Post Concussion Syndrome is also called by the medical professionals as Post Concussive Syndrome and Shell Shock. It’s a trauma to the skull that will result for having a headache and memory loss that can last for weeks and even years.

Concussion is a type of brain injury resulted by a trauma in the head that usually had a temporary effect after the incident such as headache, problems in memory, concentration and balance.

A Post Concussion Syndrome Caused by a Hard Hit on the Skull Causes the Brain on the Trauma Area to Swell

Post Concussion Syndrome Symptoms & Effects

Physical

• The most common : headache
• The person also experience dizziness that sometimes accompanied by vertigo
• The person feel nauseated
• The vision also is affected by having doubled or blurred vision
• Hearing loss or ringing sound in the ear is also felt by the person
• Problem in the sense of smell and taste
• The person also experienced problem in tolerating light and noise

Psychological

• The person become irritable
• The person feel anxious
• Feeling of depression
• Disturbance in sleep pattern
• Feels tired
• The person experienced reduced sex drive
• Appetite changes is also noticeable to the people who has this disease
• There is a sign of personality changes like acting inappropriately
• Lack of energy in doing daily routine
• Lack of interest in things that surrounds the person
• Sudden outburst of emotion is also visible like the sudden crying or laughing

Mental Process

• The patient become easily forgetful
• There is also problems in concentration and attention
• There is a slow reaction response in the patient
• There is a problem in reasoning and processing information
• They also have difficulty in learning new things

Post Concussion Syndrome Causes

The exact cause of having post concussion syndrome is still not yet clear. There are two theories that the medical experts believe that can result in having this disease:

Physiological

It is where there are caused by structural damages in the brain or there is a problem in neurotransmitter system due to the result of impact of the concussion

Physical Trauma Usually Causes a Coup Injury on the Impact Side  with Resulting Trauma on the Other side as the Brain Bounces Back

Psychological

It is due to common symptoms present with this disease such as headache, dizziness, and problems in sleeping that is also experienced by people who has depression disorder, anxiety disorder and post traumatic disorder that can affect in the development of the disease.

Risk Factors

• Age : increase in age can lead for the development of Post Concussion Syndrome
• Sex : Women is usually the one who are diagnosed with this disease primarily because they tend to seek immediate medical attention than men
• Trauma: people who experienced different traumatic experience where there is a sign of concussion like car accident is more at risk in developing the disease

Post Concussion Syndrome Diagnosis

Diagnosis of this disease is very difficult. There is a checklist made for Post Concussion Syndrome to help the medical professionals to identify the disease. There is still no specific test that will determine the presence of this disease so usually the medical professionals based there diagnosis on the present signs and symptoms of the patient.

The ICD-10 of Post Concussion Syndrome is a checklist used where the patient must experienced:

• Head injury accompanying with loss of consciousness
• Develop at least 3 signs among the checklist within 4 weeks after the injury (11 Symptoms: (1) headache (2) dizziness (3) fatigue (4) irritability (5) problem in sleep (6) problem in concentration (7) problem in memory (8) emotional problems (9) visible signs of anxiety or depression (10) personality changes (11) apathy

Post Concussion Syndrome has a highly incident to be misdiagnosed by the medical professional due to the presenting signs and symptoms that are also visible in other diseases like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that can lead to make the symptoms of the Post concussion disease to be worst.

The medical professionals will recommend the person to have a brain scan in order to rule out other disease that might affect the symptoms that a person is experiencing. It is a test to check brain abnormalities that will help and guide the doctors in diagnosing the disease present to the person.

• Computed Tomography Scan (CT scan) is a type of x-ray that can provide sharper and detailed images of the lungs. It combines a series of x-ray views with different angles that produce cross-sectional images of bones and tissues inside the body.
• MRI or Magnetic Resonance Imaging is also like the CT scan that helps the professionals to detect any formation and abnormal growth in the body but it’s clearer because it uses a dye to see images more clearly.

Treatment for Post Concussion Syndrome

The treatment for this disease only depends on the signs and symptoms present in the person. There is still no known specific treatment to cure this disease. The treatment are:

Medications

• Medications that reduce headaches
• Anti-depressant medication to reduce the feeling of anxiety and depression

Psychological Treatment

Talking to medical professional about the disease and learn to cope up to the problems that comes to the patient lives

Vocational Therapy

Training and learning skills to begin a career that will help the patients to do the activities of daily living and to avoid being depressed

Neurotherapy

Is a type of treatment that is painless that will help medical professionals to modify brainwaves that will improve patient attention and memory

Prognosis Of Post Concussion Syndrome

The prognosis of patients having Post Concussion Syndrome is excellent in most of the cases. For most patients who are diagnosed with this disease the symptoms go away within days to several weeks up to 3 months maximum after the injury.

Only 15% of the patients who has this disease experienced more than a year before the symptoms disappear. It still better that you should immediately seek medical attention to the medical professionals to help improve the quality of life of patients and to shorten the period of time that the symptoms exist.

Prevention

The best and only one way to prevent Post Concussion Syndrome is to avoid head injuries. These are some ways to prevent head injuries.

• Whenever you’re travelling by a car always fasten your seatbelts.
• It is advised when you ride on a motorcycle or do some sports that had a high risk of having a head injury it is advised to wear appropriate helmet.
• Make your house safe proof from head injuries by providing good lightning and installing handrails whenever possible.