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Rehabilitation Therapies

What rehabilitation therapies, including cognitive and physical therapies, help people with traumatic brain injuries?

Person using pencil to fill in answer on exam

What Effect Does Concussion Have on Learning?

Stories of athletes like Brittany who experience concussions or more severe brain injuries can help to educate others. She did get back on track.

Cheerleaders at practice

A Parent’s Key Role after a Child’s Concussion

Parents play a major role in identifying the effects of concussions in their daughters and sons, helping them manage symptoms, and supporting their recovery.

woman painting

Healing through Art & Science

Kaiser Foundation Rehabilitation Center, Kaiser Permanente’s regional rehabilitation inpatient and outpatient hospital in Vallejo, California celebrates its art program. The producers interview Dr. Sandel, a former Medical Director, and others at the Center about their work with patients using art as a medium of expression.

health educator sits with patient

A Neuropsychologist is a Brain Injury Expert

Neuropsychologists are psychologists with training in brain functioning. They offer evaluations, education, and counseling for people with brain injuries. Health can educators help, too, because education is a key part of concussion care.

Doctor holds stethoscope to football helmet

Getting Top-Notch Care after a Concussion

Concussion clinics vary in terms of protocols and personnel. Neuropsychologist Richard Delmonico discusses one model in the Kaiser Permanente health system.

Doctor taking notes from brain x-ray

Can We Adequately Treat Concussion?

Finding a physician specializing in brain injury medicine can be difficult because the field is relatively new, but there are resources to help.

3D illustration of person with hand on head in pain

Concussions or “Mild” Brain Injuries are Still Misunderstood

Even as the incidence of concussions is on the rise in the U.S. and in countries around the world, this injury from a blow to the head remains a largely misunderstood condition. Concussions happen to people from all walks of life—young athletes, the elderly, people injured in motor vehicle accidents,…

Slate Article

Concussion Alliance Co-Founders Interviewed for Slate Article

More and more journalists are writing about concussion, in many cases because they have had a concussion themselves or have friends or relatives who have experienced one. In March, 2024, Isobel Whitcomb interviewed Concussion Alliance co-founders Conor Gormally and Malayka Gormally for an article in Slate. It is concerning that bad medical advice (“just rest”) is still being given to concussion patients as is clear in Whitcomb’s story.

Abstract brain wave concept

What Is Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy?

Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy (CRT) is an evidence-based approach to addressing multiple cognitive impairments caused by a traumatic brain injury. Restorative CRT strengthens cognitive abilities, and compensatory CRT provides strategies to reduce the impact of deficits.

Close up of woman holding neck in pain

Three Alternative Treatment Modalities to Ease Brain Injury Associated Symptoms

Conventional treatments like medications may not help symptoms after a brain injury. Complementary or alternative treatments may help.

3D x-ray of spine/neck

Check the Neck after a Brain Injury

Whiplash and cervical strain occurs when a person’s head and neck are forced back and forth, injuring soft tissues of the neck. They are common after brain injuries.

3D illustration of person holding head in pain

Evaluating and Treating Headaches After Brain Injury

Headaches are extremely common after a traumatic brain injury, but there are various treatments that vary depending on the phenotype or cause.

Woman with eyes closed holding neck in pain

Post-Traumatic Headaches: Not Just One Type or Treatment

Headaches must be evaluated with a comprehensive history and physical examination. There are many options for treatment, but diagnosis has to be the first step.

Doctor looking at x-ray photo with patient in background

Treatment and Prognosis after a Concussion

Learn about treatments for post-concussion symptoms—including medication, various rehabilitation therapies, neuropsychology, and potentially some complementary therapies—as well as factors related to longer concussion recovery times.

Excercise-Sleep-Time To Heal from TBI

3 Things to Do to Allow Your Brain to Recover More Quickly After Brain Injury

After a concussion, people need good sleep patterns, and they also need to resume activity and exercise to aid recovery. Activities with concussion risk should be avoided, however.

Woman looking pensively from apartment

Mood Disorders Such as Depression Can Complicate a Brain Injury

A traumatic brain injury can be associated with depression or another mood disorder, possibly because of the disruption of brain chemicals.

Mother and smiling daughter in doctor's office

Will My Child Experience Long-Term Consequences from a Concussion or other Brain Injury?

Although most children recover fully after a single concussion, others have long-term effects. Of course, prevention is the best strategy, but if a concussion occurs, parents must understand a brain injury has occurred.

X-ray of child and headache

How Long Will It Take for My Child to Recover from a Concussion?

Children can experience a range of symptoms after concussion. They require individualized treatments and strategies for returning to activities and to school. A physician with training and experience in treating concussions must provide early interventions and follow-up, regardless of how long recovery takes.

Brain Injury Talk Radio

Shaken Brain with Dr. Elizabeth Sandel on Recovery Now with Kim Justus

Dr. Sandel discusses brain injury medicine, a new subspecialty of medicine, and getting the best care after a concussion or more severe brain injury in the US. Kim Justus discusses her own history in regards to brain injury and her struggles to find care. She also discusses Dr. Sandel’s book, Shaken Brain, as a helpful resource for listeners.

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