National Concussion Awareness Day ® is Friday, September 20

Friday, September 20 is National Concussion Awareness Day ®, a day set aside to raise awareness of the importance of recognizing a concussion, treating it appropriately and supporting the injured so we can positively impact lives across the country.
Concussions have become an epidemic in the United States, with millions of mild traumatic brain injuries happening each year.

The UHS Concussion Center provides a full spectrum of services aimed at managing your care from injury and diagnosis through rehabilitation to maximize timely return to learn and return to play. We have physicians in all of the most relevant specialties, including Sports Medicine, Neurology, Neuropsychology, Physiatry, and Neurosurgery, as well as Physical Therapists who are experienced in concussion management.

A concussion is an injury with potentially serious consequences if left untreated. Previously, concussions were thought of as having your “bell rung” and athletes were expected to shake it off to get back to play. However, concussions can cause severe long-lasting symptoms. Evidence continues to support that the brain needs time and treatment to recover from this injury.
Sustaining too many concussions or a second concussion while still recovering from the first can cause exponentially worsening symptoms. This can cause prolongation of recovery, academic and professional underachievement, depression and mental health problems, and increased susceptibility to future head injuries.

Sustaining multiple persistent concussions has been implicated in several types of dementia, including Parkinson’s-associated dementia, Alzheimer’s dementia, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Second impact syndrome is caused by sustaining a second hit to the head in the vulnerable period soon after a concussion and is a rare but tragic cause of severe brain injury and death in athletes.

A concussion should be suspected if there have been both: A blow to, or sudden whiplash injury of, the head, and any of the following symptoms:
•Headache
•Dizziness or poor balance
•Sensitivity to light or noise
•Blurry vision
•Feeling in a fog
•Feeling generally not right
•Trouble sleeping
•Drowsiness
•Trouble concentrating or remembering
•Irritability or emotionality
•Fatigue
•Confusion
•Sadness
•Nervousness or anxiety
•Brief loss of consciousness

If an individual experiences a hit to the head coupled with any of the above symptoms, a concussion should be suspected and the individual should be removed from sports until evaluated by a provider trained in concussion care.

The UHS Concussion Center provides a full spectrum of services aimed at managing your care from injury and diagnosis through rehabilitation to maximize timely return to learn and return to play. We have physicians in all of the most relevant specialties, including Sports Medicine, Neurology, Neuropsychology, Physiatry, and Neurosurgery, as well as Physical Therapists who are experienced in concussion management.

For more information, go to nyuhs.org or call 240-2706.

UHS is a locally owned, not-for-profit hospital and healthcare system serving Greater Binghamton and surrounding counties. Founded in 1981, UHS provides a full range of medical, surgical, rehabilitative and long-term care services throughout New York’s Southern Tier.

Follow the latest UHS news and more at nyuhs.org and on Facebook (facebook.com/uhshospitals) and Twitter (twitter.com/uhsinc).