There have been.....17 definitions of concussion in the research.

There are 18 definitions for love. Complex things often require simple definitions, but that doesn’t capture the full experience.

Why is this a problem?

When we can streamline a definition for an injury, it allows us healthcare providers to set standards on how to diagnose, manage, & treat that injury. Look at other common injuries & they’ll have a Clinic Practice Guideline-this is essentially a compilation of several years of research & clinical practice that lays out everything a provider needs to know to diagnose, manage, & treat a person going through this injury. We don’t have that for concussions, in part due to our evolving definition of the injury.

Why is this a good thing?

It shows how individual a concussion is. One sentence cannot capture the complexity of a brain injury - just like love! The National Institute of Health released the definition of “traumatically induced transient disturbance of brain function” that fits all concussions, but we’re missing out on the complexity of the experience.

We need to go deeper. We need to define YOUR concussion. You will benefit from having your concussion evaluated by an expert, because that assessment will determine what YOU need for your recovery.

Some folks will have a bigger visual piece to their recovery.
Some folks will have a significant vestibular piece to their recovery.
Some folks will have a larger emotional / psychological piece.
Some folks will have a cervicogenic (neck) aspect due to whiplash or a prior neck injury history.
Some folks will have a large physiologic (dysautonomia, exercise intolerance) piece to their recovery.
Some folks will have a large cognitive piece to their recovery.

In fact, most folks will have a couple (or several!) of these areas playing a role in their symptom profile.