frequently asked questions

can you still drive with a concussion?

This is definitely a question for your doctor since it would depend on where you are in your recovery. I took a break from driving while my vision and balance were impaired and while I was working with a physical therapist on fixing my eye convergence. Now, I drive 40 minutes each way to school and have never had any issues. In fact, after having concussions, I found myself getting nauseated in the car as a passenger, and I find I never feel nauseated while driving.

how do you deal with family relationships and friendships?

This will be an individual process, but my best advice is to talk about it with people you care about. I was lucky since my parents were particularly supportive and worked hard to understand concussion and post-concussion syndrome, but I understand some of you may need to find ways to educate your parents. I think I spent far too much time worried that my friends would think that I was stupid or ‘milking it.’ Once I talked more openly about it with friends, I found they were really interested in concussion and wanted to be supportive. The symptoms of PCS can interfere with your relationships. People often are unable to tolerate certain environments like a loud restaurant or party, which can alter the way you spend time with friends or family. Now, my symptoms don’t really affect my social life, but I’m grateful that I was open with my friends in the past.

when will I get better and how long does PCS last?

Unfortunately, there is no real timetable for concussion or PCS. Generally concussions take up to two weeks to resolve and symptoms lasting beyond about a month or two begin to be considered post-concussion syndrome. Depending on your progression, your doctor may feel comfortable giving you an estimated recovery time, but often they can’t. You just need to listen to your symptoms and your doctors and make sure you’re giving your brain the time it needs to recover. Although I’m certainly not a doctor, I can pretty confidently tell you that you’re going to get better. Post-concussion syndrome is not usually considered a ‘forever’ type of condition. Over the last two years since my last major concussion, I feel so much better. I had to defer a year of school, and now I’m thriving in school and applying to colleges. It can be a long process, but symptoms will just start to decrease until they’re gone.

what treatments have worked for you?

There are so many treatments for concussion out there, and I think I’ve tried most of them. Over the past five years, I think I’ve tried 15 different treatment specialists, and different things work for different people. I found physical therapy with a focus on my eyes and my balance and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (basically memory retraining) to be the most helpful. It can be difficult and discouraging to find treatments that work, but it’s important to remain open-minded and optimistic.

how do you get school accommodations?

This depends heavily on the school. Many schools require a neuropsychological test (which basically assesses different parts of brain function) and the test can be helpful in determining where weaknesses remain from concussion and how to accommodate for them. Be advised, that a good neuropsychological evaluation will often take about six or seven hours plus a follow-up, but for me, the results and analysis by the doctor more than justified the time spent. I also think that it’s important to find people to help advocate for you. For me, my parents, the school nurse, my school advisor, and a few of my doctors were hugely helpful while I needed accommodations especially in the early stages of recovery. School administrators or teachers need to respond to and accommodate for the symptoms a student is experiencing when it comes to PCS. Some students may experience emotional symptoms and need support and school via counseling etc. while other students may struggle with memory or executive functioning and need very different accommodations.