Can You Get Knocked Out and Not Have a Concussion

Facts
- What Facts Should I Know about Concussion?
Causes
- What Causes a Concussion?
Furnishings
- What Are the Symptoms and Signs of a Concussion?
- When to Seek Medical Treat Concussion
Signs
- How Tin You Tell if You Have a Concussion?
- Self-Care at Home for a Concussion
Treatment
- What Is the Treatment for a Concussion?
- What Is the Follow-up for a Concussion?
Prevention
- Can You Prevent a Concussion?
Prognosis
- What Is the Prognosis for a Concussion?
Guide
- Concussion Topic Guide
- Doctor'due south Notes on Concussion Symptoms

What Facts Should I Know almost Concussion?

Concussions, or traumatic brain injuries, can be mild or severe.

What is the medical definition of concussion?

The term concussion describes an injury to the encephalon resulting from an impact to the head. Past definition, a concussion is not a life-threatening injury, but it tin can cause both short-term and long-term problems. A concussion results from a airtight-caput type of injury and does not include injuries in which there is haemorrhage under the skull or into the brain. Another type of brain injury must be present if haemorrhage is visible on a CT browse (True cat scan) of the encephalon.

How serious is a mild concussion?

A mild concussion may involve no loss of consciousness (feeling "dazed") or a very brief loss of consciousness (being "knocked out").
A severe concussion may involve prolonged loss of consciousness with a delayed return to normal.

What Causes a Concussion?

A concussion can be acquired by any significant blunt force trauma to the head such every bit:

a fall,
a automobile accident,
sports injury, or
being struck on the head with an object.

What Are the Symptoms and Signs of a Concussion?

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Common signs and symptoms of concussion are:

Loss of consciousness later whatever trauma to the caput
Confusion
Headache
Nausea or vomiting
Blurred vision
Loss of short-term memory (you may not remember the bodily injury and the events some time earlier or after the impact)
Perseverating (repeating the same thing over and over, despite being told the respond each time, for example, "Was I in an accident?")

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When to Seek Medical Treat Concussion

Call the doctor virtually whatsoever of the following situations. The doctor will recommend home care, gear up an appointment to see the affected individual, or send the the person to a infirmary'due south emergency department.

A person struck a hard object with the head (for example: tile floor, ice, bathtub) but did not lose consciousness
Mild dizziness or nausea after a head injury
Loss of memory of the event (amnesia) for just a few minutes
Mild headache with no vision disturbances

Become to an emergency department by ambulance in the following situations. For people with less astringent injuries not requiring ambulance ship, a car may be taken to the infirmary.

Severe caput trauma, for example, a fall from more than the height of the person or a hard fall onto a hard surface or object with resulting bleeding or laceration.
Any kid that loses consciousness as the result of a head injury.
Prolonged loss of consciousness (longer than two minutes)
Any delayed loss of consciousness (for example, the injured person is knocked out simply momentarily, then is awake and talking, then loses consciousness again)
Vomiting more than than once
Confusion that does not become away quickly
Restlessness or agitation
Extreme drowsiness, weakness, or inability to walk
Severe headache
Loss of retentivity of the event (amnesia)
Perseverating (proverb the same thing over and over)
Seizures or convulsions
Slurred speech communication
Someone who takes warfarin (Coumadin) or platelet inhibitors clopidogrel (Plavix) and aspirin (Aggrenox) for a medical problem and suffers a meaning accident to the head.
If the person fails to regain consciousness after two minutes, however, or the injury is very severe fifty-fifty if 2 minutes have non passed, DO NOT move the person. Foreclose motility of the neck, which may exacerbate spinal injuries. If the person needs to vomit, carefully curlicue the person onto his or her side without turning the head. Phone call 911 immediately for assistance.

If you are unsure of the severity of the injury, take the person to the emergency department immediately.

Should an injured person be immune to fall asleep? Many mistakenly believe it is important to keep people, especially children, awake after they have been struck on the head. Children are often more emotionally upset than they are physically injured later on a small-scale fall. They volition cry and appear distressed, but equally the parent rushes them to the hospital, children may begin to calm downwardly. Because they accept expended a lot of physical and emotional free energy crying, they will oftentimes want to go to asleep.

You exercise not demand to keep the patient awake. In many cases information technology may be helpful to the emergency medico to be able to awaken the person who is at present more at-home and rested and volition behave normally. This gives the medico a better assessment of the severity of the head injury.
If, however, a person who was initially normal after a caput injury cannot be awakened, or is extremely difficult to awaken, then the person may have a more serious head injury and should exist evaluated by a doctor.

How Can You Tell if You Have a Concussion?

The doctor will make sure that in that location are no astringent or life-threatening injuries kickoff and then will further evaluate the severity of the head injury.

History of the injury: If you can, give the dr. the following details about the injury:

How long the person may have been unconscious.
Details most how the injury happened, such every bit the speed of travel in a car blow, the acme of a fall, or the size of the person or object that hit the victim.

Past medical history: Tell the doctor most the history of any of the post-obit:

Current medications, particularly warfarin (Coumadin) or platelet inhibitors clopidogrel (Plavix) and aspirin and dipyridamole (Aggrenox)
Allergies to medications
Prior head injury or concussion, neurologic injury, or surgeries
Bleeding disorder or history of piece of cake haemorrhage or bruising

During the physical exam, the doctor will:

Assess normal neurologic part such every bit reflexes and mental condition.
Examine the patient for other associated injuries, such as a neck injury or whiplash, that are common with head injury.
Inspect for bleeding from the ears or nose also every bit bruising around the eyes or backside the ears that is ordinarily seen with certain types of fractures to the base of the skull.

Many times people are concerned nearly a cut (laceration) on the scalp or face, and the doc may non seem to take much detect. These cuts may drain and appear serious, simply severe or life-threatening bleeding from such a cut is rare and would be recognized correct away. The doctor's main business will be to assure that there is non serious brain damage, or a cervix or torso injury. The cut tin be repaired later.

Looking inside: The best way to evaluate a person's head injury is with a CT scan. This machine takes cross-exclusive X-rays of the head (or other body parts), and a reckoner reassembles the information into images to let the dr. run across details of the inside of the body. When a CT scan is used for a head injury, the medico will await for evidence of bleeding under the skull or inside the encephalon tissue itself.

With less serious caput trauma, the doctor may choose not to do a CT scan. A modest concussion tin safely be observed either at home or in the hospital for 24-48 hours. If no other serious signs of injury develop, the person will commonly exist safe.
Skull X-rays are no longer routinely used to evaluate a person with a concussion.
A concussion may be accompanied by a skull fracture. The patient may withal take a skull fracture even though the doctor does not perform a CT scan or take X-rays. This is adequate. The presence of a fracture does not, alone, increase the likelihood of an injury to the brain unless there are likewise other signs of caput injury.
- Skull fractures almost ever heal well. Casts are not used on the head.
- In rare cases, a leptomeningeal cyst may form. These are bulges of the os and tissue at the site of the fracture, which develop months later. At that place is no way to predict their occurrence or to foreclose them.
- If the patient notices a bump forming months after a head injury, see a medico. Ten-rays of the skull may be washed at that time, and if there is a leptomeningeal cyst forming, the patient volition be referred to a neurosurgeon for evaluation and handling.

In the past, concussions were normally graded on a scale according to severity. Near commonly, concussions are referred to equally symptomatic or asymptomatic (meaning that symptoms are or are not nowadays, respectively). Neurologists may exercise further testing to grade a concussion's severity.

Self-Intendance at Habitation for a Concussion

Bleeding under the scalp, just outside the skull, creates a "goose egg" or large bruise (hematoma) at the site of the head injury. A hematoma is mutual and will become away on its ain with fourth dimension. The use of ice immediately later the trauma may help decrease its size.

Do not apply water ice directly to the pare - use a washcloth equally a bulwark and wrap the water ice in it. You may also apply a bag of frozen vegetables wrapped in material, as this conforms nicely to the shape of the caput.
Apply water ice for 20-xxx minutes at a fourth dimension and repeat about every 2 to four hours. There is piddling benefit afterwards 48 hours.
Rest is important to allow the brain to heal.

In 2010, the American Academy of Neurology called for any athlete suspected of having a concussion to be removed from play until the athlete is evaluated past a dr.. If a concussion is suspected due to a sports injury, the Centers for Disease Control recommends implementing a 4-footstep plan:

Remove the athlete from play.
Ensure that the athlete is evaluated by a health care professional person experienced in evaluating for concussion. Do not try to judge the severity of the injury yourself.
Inform the athlete'south parents or guardians nearly the possible concussion and give them the fact sheet on concussion.
Keep the athlete out of play the day of the injury and until a health intendance professional, experienced in evaluating for concussion, says they are symptom-free and it's OK to return to play.

A repeat concussion that occurs before the encephalon recovers from the first - usually inside a short period of time (hours, days, or weeks) - can tiresome recovery or increase the likelihood of having long-term issues. In rare cases, echo concussions tin can outcome in edema (brain swelling), permanent encephalon impairment, and fifty-fifty death.

What Is the Treatment for a Concussion?

Bed residue, fluids, and a balmy pain reliever such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) may exist prescribed.

Water ice may be applied to bumps to salvage pain and decrease swelling.
Cuts are numbed with medication such equally lidocaine, by injection or topical awarding. The cutting is then cleansed thoroughly with a saline solution and peradventure an iodine solution. The doctor volition explore the injury to look for foreign matter and hidden injuries. The wound commonly is closed with skin staples, stitches (sutures), or, occasionally, a skin glue called cyanoacrylate (Dermabond).

What Is the Follow-upwards for a Concussion?

Afterward initial treatment, the patient will exist referred for follow-up care to their primary care doctor or a specialist, such as a neurologist. It is important to keep these appointments, particularly because some of the more than subtle bug of concussion (memory deficits, personality changes, and changes in noesis) may not be credible at the time of the initial injury.

Can You Prevent a Concussion?

The utilise of protective headgear can decrease the hazard of concussion when engaging in any of the following activities:

Contact martial arts sports such equally boxing, karate, and others
Football
Hockey
Rollerblading
Cycling (bicycles and motorized)
Baseball
Skateboarding

Always apply seatbelts in automobiles.

"Fall proof" your home and your environment:

Make sure your living space is uncluttered.
Make sure furniture is secure and in good repair.
Ensure rugs or carpets are safe to walk on and practise non slip or slide on the floor.
Clean up spills on glace surfaces immediately and thoroughly.
Install window guards and safety gates to prevent falls leading to concussion in children.

What Is the Prognosis for a Concussion?

A person with a unmarried, isolated concussion by and large has a very good recovery outcome with few long-term effects.

Short-term effects

Postconcussive syndrome:

The main symptom of postconcussive syndrome is persistent headache for one to 2 weeks, lasting up to months later the injury.
Sometimes people with postconcussive syndrome will accept dizziness, difficulty concentrating, difficulty sleeping, or problems doing certain types of activities such as reading.
Nausea and airsickness may occur.
Affected individuals may also feel other subtle cerebral or emotional problems.
Affected individuals tin can develop at least one symptom of postconcussive syndrome within the first month following injury, and some have at least three symptoms past three months post-injury.
Postconcussive syndrome is more common later on a serious concussion than later a mild ane.
Symptoms normally are relieved with mild hurting relievers such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil).
Postconcussive syndrome commonly goes away on its own with time. Some people may have symptoms that exercise not go abroad, even after months. In this situation, contact a physician. Sometimes tests (such as an MRI or cerebral function testing) or consultations with a neurologist can meliorate appraise this trouble.

Long-term furnishings

Concussions are known to be cumulative. That is, each time you have a concussion it is easier to get another concussion in the future.
Repeated concussions can pb to long-term memory loss, psychiatric disorders, brain impairment, and other neurologic problems.
If a person has had a number of concussions, the medico likely volition advise the person to avoid the activities that may put them at risk for future head injuries and to discontinue contact sports. Professional athletes are particularly prone to the effects of cumulative concussions.

From

References

Medically reviewed by Jon Drinking glass, Dr.; American Lath of Psychiatry and Neurology

REFERENCE:

Concussion and mild traumatic brain injury
UptoDate.com

Sport-related concussion in children and adolescents: Direction
UptoDate.com

Sport-related concussion in children and adolescents: Clinical manifestations and diagnosis
UptoDate.com

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