Healing or recovering from a concussion takes time. It may take days to weeks, or even months. You may be irritable, have trouble concentrating, be unable to remember things, have headaches, dizziness, and blurry vision. These problems will probably recover slowly. You may want to get help from family or friends for making important decisions.
You may use acetaminophen (Tylenol) for a headache. Do NOT use aspirin, ibuprofen (Motrin or Advil), naproxen, or other similar drugs unless your doctor told you to.
Eat a light diet. Light activity around the home is okay. You do not need to stay in bed. However, avoid exercise, lifting weights, or other heavy activity.
Have an adult stay with you for the first 12 - 24 hours after you are home from an emergency room.
Do not drink alcohol until you have recovered all the way. Alcohol may slow down how quickly you recover, increase your risk for another injury, and make it harder than it already is to make decisions.
As long as symptoms are present, avoid sports activities, operating machines, being overly active, and hard labor. Ask your doctor when you can return to your activities.
Make sure friends, people you work with, and family members are aware of your recent injury.
Talk to your employer about the timing of important projects. Consider having others check your work. You should not perform work activities that may place others in danger until all symptoms are gone.
Family, workmates, and friends should understand that you may be more tired, withdrawn, easily upset or confused, may have a hard time with tasks that require remembering or concentrating, and may have mild headaches and less tolerance for noise.
Consider asking for more breaks when you return to work.
Talk with your employer about:
A doctor should tell you when you can:
If symptoms do not go away or are not improving a lot after 2 or 3 weeks, talk to your doctor.
Call the doctor if you have:
Brain injury - concussion - discharge; Traumatic brain injury - concussion - discharge; Closed head injury - concussion - discharge
Biros MH, Heegaard WG. Head injury. In: Marx JA, ed. Rosen’s Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 7th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Mosby Elsevier; 2009:chap 38.
Hunt T, Asplund C. Concussion assessment and management. Clin Sports Med. 2009;5-17.
Updated by: Linda J. Vorvick, MD, Medical Director, MEDEX Northwest Division of Physician Assistant Studies, University of Washington, School of Medicine.; and Daniel Kantor, MD, Medical Director of Neurologique, Ponte Vedra, FL and President of the Florida Society of Neurology (FSN). Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
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