Have a concussion- Don't push through

Gentle reminder for the day for those who have had a concussion – Don’t push through!
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Remember that following a concussion the brain needs use more energy to manage normal daily functions than it did before your concussion ………AND it needs to be diverting a lot of its energy to help the healing process. Your brain has a finite amount of energy, and after it has diverted the energy required for helping with healing and repair there can often be little left in the way of reserves. Your job is to manage these reserves, and not push through your brain’s capabilities. If you do push through, you risk a symptom flare, which is never fun, and likely to then prevent you from being able to manage the things you had planned for the rest of the day.

Remember your x3 P’s:

1. PLAN: your day and your week. Schedule in adequate breaks to help you recover and limit the risk of flaring your symptoms.

2. PRIORITORISE: Look at what needs to happen in your day/week. Prioritise what must absolutely be done, and what you can leave or do if your energy levels allow.
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3. PACE: Spread more cognitive/physical/stressful tasks out over the week, plan breaks around these. Listen your body’s feedback when doing any task, and pace yourself, when you start to feel the signs that you might get symptomatic, stop and break to prevent your symptoms flaring.
In the early stages of your concussion recovery this will be a lot of trial and error. You need to respect what your body is signalling to you, and not push through.