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I have reported a number of times on concussion and the surprising negative and long-term impacts of concussion. Another little-known effect of concussion in sports people is that it seems to increase the chances of injury up to a year after concussion.
This seems like strange mechanism — how can concussion influence a tendon strain 6 months later? But this is precisely what is consistently measured: an increased risk of any injury up to a year after suffering concussion.
This study by researchers at the university of Colorada designed an intervention study and assigned 27 post-concussion athletes to one of two groups.
- One that received standard care, returning to play after completing a set of post-concussion protocols.
- The second group completed the same protocols but then had additional neuromuscular training included guided strength exercises and focus on posture and stability.
The results?
Those that had the additional neuromuscular intervention had 3.5 times lower injury risk the year after concussion!
So, this shows firstly that the concussion seems to disrupt the neuromuscular pathways, in subtle ways that increase all sorts of injury risk, and secondly that this can be counteracted by…
