A concussion is a traumatic brain injury caused by a blow, bump, or jolt to the head that disrupts how the brain works. You do not have to lose consciousness to have one, and symptoms can appear right away or take hours to surface. If you or someone close to you has taken a hard hit to the head during a car accident, sports injury, or fall, knowing what to look for can shape what happens next and how quickly you recover.
What Causes a Concussion?
Concussions happen when the brain rapidly shifts or twists inside the skull following a sudden impact or sharp movement. The brain does not need to strike the skull wall directly for injury to occur. The force of abrupt deceleration alone can disrupt normal brain activity and trigger symptoms.
Common causes of concussions include the following:
- Falls, particularly in older adults and young children
- Motor vehicle accidents, including rear-end collisions
- Sports injuries in contact sports such as football, soccer, hockey, or wrestling
- Whiplash-related injuries from sudden forward and backward head movement
- Workplace accidents involving heavy equipment or slippery surfaces
- Physical altercations or assaults
Anyone can get a concussion. Age, prior injury history, and the nature of the impact all affect how severe symptoms become.
Common Signs of a Concussion
Symptoms vary from person to person and can affect how you feel physically, how clearly you think, and how you handle emotions. Some people feel the effects within minutes. Others feel fine initially, then notice symptoms worsen the next morning.
Physical symptoms can include:
- Headache or a feeling of pressure in the head
- Nausea or vomiting
- Dizziness or loss of balance
- Blurry or double vision
- Sensitivity to light or noise
- Feeling unusually tired or drained
Cognitive and emotional symptoms typically include:
- Difficulty concentrating or thinking clearly
- Memory gaps, including not remembering the injury itself
- Slowed reaction time
- A foggy or disoriented feeling
- Irritability, mood swings, or heightened anxiety
- Sleep problems, either sleeping far more than usual or struggling to sleep at all
If a child is injured, watch for changes in eating habits, unusual fussiness, loss of interest in activities they normally enjoy, or difficulty with balance or coordination.
When to Seek Medical Attention
You should get evaluated after any head injury, even when symptoms seem mild. Because concussions can worsen over hours, waiting to see if you “shake it off” can delay recovery or allow a more serious injury to go undetected.
Get emergency care right away if you notice any of the following:
- Loss of consciousness, even briefly
- Repeated vomiting
- Seizures
- One pupil appears larger than the other
- Extreme drowsiness or difficulty staying awake
- Slurred speech
- Worsening headache that is not improving with rest
- Weakness or numbness in the arms or legs
- Confusion that continues to worsen over time
These are warning signs of a potentially serious brain injury, such as a hemorrhage, and they require a trip to the emergency room immediately.
For symptoms that are present but not severe, schedule an evaluation with a healthcare provider within 24 to 48 hours of the injury. A proper assessment can confirm the diagnosis and give you a realistic picture of what recovery will look like.
Treatment for Concussions
Treatment after a concussion depends on how severe your symptoms are and how long they have lasted. In the early stages, the most important step is physical and cognitive rest. That means stepping back from screens, strenuous activity, and anything that makes symptoms worse until your brain has had time to recover.
As symptoms improve, a gradual return to normal activity is recommended. Pushing through too quickly is one of the most common reasons recovery stalls.
What If Symptoms Do Not Go Away?
Most people recover from a concussion within one to four weeks with adequate rest and a gradual return to normal activity. But a portion of people experience symptoms that linger well beyond that window. This is known as post-concussion syndrome, and it can involve persistent headaches, memory difficulties, mood changes, and fatigue that stretch on for months.
If rest alone has not brought relief, it may be time to speak with a specialist who can put together a more structured plan. When pain persists beyond the initial recovery window, more targeted treatment becomes necessary. Lingering headaches, neck pain, and nerve discomfort after a head injury often respond well to interventional approaches that address the source of pain directly.
How Interventional Pain Management Can Help
If you are still struggling with head, neck, or nerve pain weeks or months after a concussion, a specialist trained in interventional pain management can evaluate what is behind those symptoms and offer targeted, in-office treatment options.
Our physicians specialize in interventional care and offer procedures such as nerve blocks, trigger point injections, and radiofrequency ablations designed to address the source of pain directly rather than simply masking it. For patients dealing with post-concussion headaches, neck pain, or nerve discomfort following a motor vehicle accident or sports collision, these approaches can offer meaningful, lasting relief.
Ready to Talk to Someone Who Can Help? Contact Comprehensive Spine and Pain
If you are still in pain after a head or neck injury, Comprehensive Spine and Pain is here to help. Our four double board-certified physicians offer advanced interventional pain management entirely in-office, so you get focused, advanced care without the complexity of a hospital setting. We are one of the few practices that handle both medication management and interventional procedures under one roof, which means nothing gets missed and no one sends you elsewhere.
Call us at (405) 601-4227 or contact us online to schedule an appointment and get the answers you need.
Our firm is located near you. Serving Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, and communities throughout central Oklahoma.
Comprehensive Spine and Pain – Oklahoma City
301 SW 80th St, Suite 101
Oklahoma City, OK 73139
Find us with our GeoCoordinates 35.38828979825202, -97.5176510455269