Concussions are brain injuries that can occur when the head is hit hard enough or jolted. The symptoms of a concussion can vary; however, common symptoms include:
- Brain fog/confusion
- Dizziness
- Memory issues
- Sleep issues
- Headaches
- Balance problems
- Fatigue
- Nausea
While previous recommendations of concussion recovery included avoiding any activity and resting, new recommendations include gradual return to daily activities. Occupational Therapists can provide helpful tips and strategies to promote faster and more effective concussion recovery.
This blog post will explore how Occupational Therapists can help individuals recover from concussions!
What do Occupational Therapists Do?
Occupational therapists work to help those with various health conditions and disabilities to manage their daily tasks. For someone with a disability, it may be more difficult to do things people without a disability can do. Occupational Therapists help individuals find alternative ways to do daily tasks, adjust to their disability, provide aids to clients, and help individuals in their workplace setting. For clients with a concussion, Occupational Therapy can help these individuals return to their previous daily tasks with effective strategies to treat their symptoms.
Using Occupational Therapy for Concussion Recovery:
Although it can be helpful to have a diagnosis from a physician, Occupational Therapists can help begin recovery by assessing the client and seeing where symptoms have caused disruptions in daily tasks/routines. The Occupational Therapists will assess for cognitive functioning, balance and mobility, as well as sensitivity to noise or light. In some situations, the Occupational Therapist may also assess the client’s school or workplace to provide tailored recommendations in these environments.
Interventions:
Based on the assessment, Occupational Therapists can then develop an individualized treatment plan for clients. With concussions, symptoms can vary, and each individual may have different areas of their life that have been impacted. One person may have troubles at work, while another person may have troubles with their sleep. For this reason, Occupational Therapists use an individualized approach to their assessment and treatment plans, to ensure each client’s specific needs are fully considered. Some different interventions for concussion recovery include:
- Cognitive interventions: Cognitive skills include memory, attention, processing information, etc. These types of interventions can help patients maintain their memory and focus while recovering, easing back into their normal functioning. Things such as creating a daily task list or reading text and answering questions about it can help with both memory and processing to promote recovery.
- Sleep/fatigue help: Occupational Therapists can help clients to address their sleep and energy levels when recovering from a concussion. Strategies may include implementing rest times throughout the day, focusing on a few important tasks rather than every little task, and avoiding caffeine/screens before bed.
- Gradual return to activities: To promote return to activities following a concussion, Occupational Therapists can implement things like educating family members, co-workers, or teachers on the effects of concussions and how they can support the client in their recovery. Allowing clients to work from home, having reduced school or workdays, and/or taking regular breaks can help the client heal. Rather than abstaining from all work and activities, this intervention helps clients ease back into their work, following their own pace of recovery. As concussions can lead to issues with memory, attention, and depth perception, daily activities such as driving and cooking a meal may be affected. Occupational Therapists can assist by arranging driving or meal preparation simulations to help clients practice these skills without the safety risks.
- Pain management: Concussions can lead to headaches and pain. While Occupational Therapists cannot prescribe medications, they can implement things to support pain management. Interventions such as mindfulness and meditation, pacing and graded exposure, and light activity, such as yoga, may help reduce pain symptoms and facilitate recovery.
These are just a few of the many interventions Occupational Therapists can use to support clients experiencing symptoms of a concussion.
Conclusion:
Overall, Occupational Therapists can help in various ways to promote concussion recovery. From improving cognitive skills to helping with pain, Occupational Therapists can provide effective strategies to recover from concussions. This way, recovery can happen faster and long-term effects of concussions can be addressed and solutions can be made to help the client with their daily life.
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