Having Peace of Mind is Priceless
Concussion research is one of the most rapidly evolving fields. Would you rather trust a practitioner who learned about concussion in school 20 years ago, or a professional required to maintain their certification annually? Our clinicians are Complete Concussion Management Inc. Certified which means they have annual education, rigorous testing, and standardized assessment and management processes in order to maintain certification. They are the most up-to-date in research and have an international network of other Certified Professionals at their fingertips.
How, as a parent, do you protect your child from a traumatic brain injury while letting them do the things they love? The answer is - you really can’t. Helmets and mouthguards can protect the skull and the teeth but they have absolutely no protective effect against concussion. To date of writing this, the only thing that shows a modicum of protection against incident/severity of concussion is neck muscle training; the faster and harder you can stiffen your neck, the more likely you are to prevent both whiplash and concussion. Because this is so hard to do, since most injuries occur when you don’t see them coming, what are we left with to protect our children?
Understand the signs of concussion and when to take children out of the game, when to rest at home, and when to seek urgent care.
If in doubt, sit them out. And sit them out until they are 100% better. Full return to school, work, and practice is required before return to games should be considered.
Rep team players or children/youth with a suspected history of concussion should have annual Baseline Testing to better predict when a concussion has or has not occurred and help medical practitioners and coaches make safer return-to-play decisions
Understand all the risks associated with returning a child to play that has not fully recovered, including Second Impact Syndrome. Understand that symptoms will typically disappear several weeks before metabolic recovery has occurred; understanding how to perform safe and gradual re-entry to sport is vital.
Ask a Professional for More Information
Baseline Testing
Is performed on a healthy athlete prior to the start of a season. Each test evaluates:
Memory
Concentration
Vision Testing
Reaction Time
Strength Testing
Balance and Proprioception
Neurocognitive Testing
Injury has Occurred
If an injury has occurred and you suspect a concussion, call us immediately. Our therapists will make time to see you within 48 hours of the injury.
In the event of an injury, athletes are re-tested and compared to their baseline tests to help ensure safe return-to-play decisions.
Baseline testing is very useful for helping make a diagnosis in cases where there was no clear cut injury.
Safe Return-to-Play
In most cases, athletes should be symptom free before they redo their baseline test. This is usually following exertional testing and on-going management by our team of Certified Concussion Management professionals.
Concussion Testing at Suncoast Integrated Health includes any notes for school or sport.
Pricing
$130 for athletes aged 12 and below
$140 for athletes aged 13 and older**