How long concussions usually last

It is advised to get hours of sleep, stay hydrated, eat light, and have someone check on you periodically. If you need to take a mild pain reliever, it is recommended that you use acetaminophen and avoid ibuprofen or aspirin because they can cause bleeding. If you are still feeling the effects of the concussion, then it is recommended to continue to take it easy, limit screen time, and minimize the amount of mental focus.

However, if you are starting to feel better, then you can gradually work on adding activities to your day. When you notice symptoms coming back, you may need to take a break or try something less demanding. At this point you will still need to avoid activities that could reinjure your head, even if you are feeling better.

At the one week mark, you should be mostly feeling like your usual self. At this time, you can generally return to your normal routine, unless directed otherwise by your doctor. A concussion may be caused by a blow, bump or jolt to the head, or by any fall or hit that jars the brain. This invisible injury disrupts the way the brain works by decreasing mental stamina, as the brain must work longer and harder even to complete simple tasks.

Concussions may involve loss of consciousness, but in the majority of concussions, loss of consciousness does not occur. It is important to know the signs and symptoms of a concussion. In rare cases, a dangerous blood clot may form on the brain in a person with a concussion and crowd the brain against the skull. Approximately 80 percent of concussions resolve over seven to 14 days, with an average of 10 days. People with concussions should never return to sports or other physical activity sooner than one week from sustaining the injury.

Acute phase is the initial period after sustaining a concussion in which the patient is still experiencing symptoms. Patients often experience things like brain fog, trouble shutting off their brains for the night, difficulty focusing or following conversations, and short-term memory issues.

Even difficulty remembering where you put your keys could stem from post-concussion syndrome. Sometimes, patients are given a concussion grade based on the severity of the circumstances around their concussion.

But often, these grades fail to predict the severity of symptoms or how long they last. This study from January published in Neurosurgery offers a different way to think about concussion symptoms. Patients will often experience symptoms from more than one grouping:. Note: Some post-concussion symptoms actually stem from autonomic nervous system dysregulation dysautonomia after a head injury. You can learn more here. A concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury mTBI.

That jostling is enough to cause the concussion symptoms we explored above. In severe traumatic brain injuries, you might incur physical damage to the skull and brain. But a concussion, by definition, means you have not suffered severe physical damage. Blood and other fluids rush to the site of the injury so that the body can effect repairs.

Brain swelling can result from this process. That gives your brain the energy it needs to help you perform those tasks. Any cognitive activity requires coordination between cells from various regions of the brain.

Other areas of the brain have to work harder to help you complete the same task. As a result, you may experience any number of the symptoms listed in the checklist or in the sections below. In an ideal recovery, the brain will resume using the most efficient pathways to deliver oxygen and information. Instead, it may continue using the less efficient pathways formed during rest and recovery.

That change may or may not result in symptoms. In most cases, the number of pathways affected is not enough for you to notice a difference in your day-to-day life. Those changes can be responsible for everything from headaches to mood changes to forgetfulness. Think about suboptimal signaling pathways in your brain like the different routes you can take to commute home from work.

Some roads have more traffic than others. And if you get stuck in traffic, who knows how long it will take. Suboptimal pathways are like getting stuck in a traffic jam or having to take the long way around. Those cells are unable to call for enough oxygen to do their jobs, so other cells have to do it. The more that happens, the more tired your brain becomes and the more opportunity there is for your symptoms to emerge.

This situation can occur from just one concussion or from many; severity depends on the individual patient. Once those suboptimal pathways are set in place, it can be difficult to retrain them without expert assistance. But with a combination of physical therapy, cognitive therapy, diet, and calming activities like meditation, many people reset most of those pathways.

Bacterial and viral diseases even COVID , stroke, hypoxia, carbon monoxide poisoning , and other sources of brain trauma can cause lingering, concussion -like symptoms. If you think this has happened to you, we may be able to help.

Set up a call with us here. When it comes to symptoms, everyone is different. Did you find this information helpful? Please consider making a donation to support our work. No matter whether you are an individual with a brain injury, a family member, caregiver, or clinician, your story is important. How long will it take me to recover from a concussion? Facts A concussion is a traumatic brain injury TBI and is also referred to as a mild traumatic brain injury.