People who suffer from continued symptoms of concussion should seek a referral to physical therapy as soon as possible, new research from Oregon Health & Science University suggests. Even though most people naturally recover from concussions within four weeks, the study revealed people who delayed physical therapy had lingering deficits related to their reaction times for balance, motor function -; or body movements to perform tasks -; and the use of sensory information -; as in sight and touch -; for balance. The research published this week in the Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Journal .
"It means they're balanced-challenged and don't react as quickly as someone with normal reaction times," said senior author Laurie King, Ph.D., PT, MCR, professor of neurology in the OHSU School of Medicine.
"If you've had a concussion and you're not reacting as quickly with balance control, it's natural to avoid precarious situations." That, in turn, could lead to people avoiding beneficial physical activities, including exercise and rehabilitation. "We have people who come in and say they're fine," King said.
"Then when we challenge them to turn their head while looking at a fixed point, they're like, 'Whoa, that makes me feel sick.'" Earlier rehab seems to enable the brain to return a more normal state of balance, she said. In contrast, when physical therapy is delayed, the brain may adapt to the injury by compensating for poor use of sensory information.
In effect, patients become ov.