All those e mails to register for winter sport have just started showing up in the inbox. It is that time of year to register for your club, try on the boots, get a new mouth guard…..and get a Pre-Season Baseline Concussion Test.
Sport is fantastic for our health and development but it’s also fast and chaotic and sometimes injuries just happen.
Despite our best efforts to prevent them, concussions are an inevitable part of competitive contact sports. The good news is that when a concussion is recognised and treated, it will recover and not cause any long-term issues. Failure to manage a concussion, puts children/adolescents at risk for long term issues such as increased fatigue, headaches and affected concentration.
Science is more developed, and sports are getting much better at recognising concussion. Concussion treatment, just like an ankle sprain or knee injury, is something that we treat at the clinic.
What is pre-season baseline concussion testing?
Baseline concussion testing involves performing tests to get a measure of an individual’s brain function under normal healthy circumstances. We assess cognitive function, balance & coordination and vestibular-occular motor function (head and eye movement) using state of the art Neuroflex goggles.
So its mid-season and the stakes are getting a bit higher, bodies are flying around and two heads clash. We all hate to see it but these two players may very well have sustained concussions.
Why should we get a baseline?
When a player attends physio with a concussion, the Physio performs a concussion assessment to measure the severity. They treat the concussion with balance exercises, neck treatment, eye reflex exercises, cardio exercise prescription and modifies the environmental noise, lighting and screen time.
As the player recovers, we remeasure the concussion data, when the player matches their pre-season baseline testing, we know they have completely recovered.
If we have no pre-season baseline data, we can only compare to the ‘average’.
Baseline data ensures we KNOW EXACTLY when a player has fully recovered from a concussion. This means we can safely get players back to their sport as soon as possible.
So who should get a pre season baseline test?
Anyone who is playing contact sport this year should have a pre-season baseline test done. If someone has a history of concussion its especially important as prior history of concussion is a known risk factor of prolonged/complicated recovery.
In 2024 we treated concussions in people playing
· AFL
· Rugby
· Hockey
· Netball
· Basketball
· Soccer
A pre season baseline test appointment is only 20 minutes long, can be claimed against private health insurance and is invaluable in the management of concussion.
Hopefully once it’s performed, we can file it away and never look at it again. Although if needed, the information will go a long way to inform optimal concussion management. At the very least, it’s also a bit of fun to do the assessment, check your balance and see how quick your reflexes are!
So if it’s been a year since your last baseline assessment or you have never had one, it’s a good time to get into the clinic for one. Appointments are now available.
