Concussion
UK HealthCare provides diagnostic and treatment consultations to patients with mild traumatic brain injury, including those from sports, motor vehicle accidents, and falls. This interdepartmental and multidisciplinary effort combines resources from across UK to provide care for referrals from community health care providers. The UK faculty support research activities in sports concussions, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, post-traumatic headaches, post-traumatic epilepsy and post-concussive disorder populations.
Most commonly, patients are referred through their primary care provider or neurologist. For sports-specific concussions, please contact the UK HealthCare Sports Medicine Walk-in Clinic at 859-257-1000. For all other concussions, please consult your primary care physician first. For lasting and complicated injuries, the primary care physician will refer for neurologic care.
About Concussion
Sometimes called a mild traumatic brain injury, a concussion is caused by a blow or a jolt to the head. The injury keeps the brain from working normally. Symptoms of a concussion may last less than a day or linger for months or longer.
Many of the cases of concussion that require emergency treatment are because of falls, motor vehicle injuries, assaults and sports injuries. Children, young adults and older adults are at especially high risk for concussions and may take longer to recover after a concussion.
Prevention & Treatment
An important part of treatment of a concussion is getting plenty of rest, including sleep at night and naps or rest breaks during the day if needed. You will probably be advised to avoid certain physical activities and sports while you recover, and medicine may be recommended if you have a headache.
You can take a number of steps to help reduce your risk for a concussion or prevent it in your children:
- Wear a seat belt every time you're in a motor vehicle.
- Make sure your children use the proper safety seat, booster seat or seat belt.
- Never drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
- Wear a helmet for activities such as riding a bicycle or motorcycle, playing contact sports, skiing, horseback riding and snowboarding.
- Reduce your risk for falls by eliminating clutter in your home, removing slippery area rugs and installing grab bars in the bathroom if needed, especially for older adults.
