If you have suffered an accident or injury that has resulted in a headache, you may be left wondering what steps you can take to address lingering effects of the situation you have endured. Oddly enough, despite how prevalent these kinds of headaches are, many misconceptions continue to linger that often prevent people from seeking out and receiving the care they need to address the persistent effects of concussion.
Let’s look at some of the most common misconceptions:
- One is that you have to lose consciousness for your post-traumatic headache to be a serious issue. In fact, a relatively small number – fewer than 10%, in fact, according to experts – actually lose consciousness.
- Another misconception is that you need to experience a direct blow to your head to need to look into remedies for your post-traumatic headache. In actuality, just about any form of injury which results in the head moving backward or forward quickly can have painful effects that need to be addressed. This misconception also has much to do with coverage of football and the intense blows that are commonplace in the game.
- You also don’t even necessarily need to lose consciousness in order to experience a concussion – we have Hollywood and TV shows to thank for this misconception, popularizing the cliché of the person who passes out promptly after taking a heavy blow to the head. But according to researchers at the esteemed University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, only about 10% of concussions here in reality actually involve someone experiencing a loss of consciousness.
- On that note, you don’t necessarily need to keep someone aware if they have experienced a concussion. A common myth is that it’s dangerous to let people fall asleep or pass out; but the reality is that if a person has been cleared by a medical professional and is free from risk of brain bleed, it’s safe for them to sleep.
- Headaches and migraines are the same thing – FALSE. Migraines differ because they usually include other more severe symptoms such as nausea and vomiting. These differences may stem from the fact of different causes and biological mechanisms that are creating pain.
These misconceptions are important to understand and clear up in order to prevent post-traumatic headaches and their lingering effects. Luckily, you don’t need to chart your own course by yourself in creating an action plan to identify and treat your health challenges. Work with a trusted health professional who can help to clarify the nature of your injury and dispel rumors or misconceptions.
Be sure to seek out this advice in a timely fashion. Many injuries, even if they don’t fit into one of the categories you have imagined can create persistent, long-term challenges if not addressed.
If you’re experiencing pain and seeking solutions for how to more effectively cope, contact our team at East Coast Injury.