Managing symptoms: Intro
In most topics we study, there is a tendency to break them up in to smaller pieces to make their study and comprehension easier. While the same is true of concussions and illness in general, it is best to appreciate that the variety of consequences from a concussion are actually interdependent and are caused by the same injury. Therefore, it is best to treat the injury in a broad fashion rather than micro-managing individual consequences.
For example, common consequences after a concussion can be subdivided into those that are related to sleep, energy, mood, headaches, neck, visual, vestibular and cognition. Even within these divisions there exists a variety of presentations and/or subdivisions. That is, patients may have different types of headaches or different types of mood issues. Treatments that appreciate the overlap of these many ‘sub-domains’ will be more powerful and successful. For example, one will appreciate that treating any neck issues will often also help improve headaches, energy, sleep quality, mood and possibly balance. This will set up a virtuous cycle of recovery in all facets of concussion’s consequences.
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