Overview
For this study researchers found patients between the ages of 10-23 and assigned them to one of two groups. The first group was the pragmatic, progressive therapeutic treatment group. In this group, the researchers prescribed different therapies based on patient’s individual needs. “For subjects who had cervical dysfunction (eg, cervicogenic dizziness and/or cervicogenic headache), this was prioritized rest and was treated through the use of manual techniques including soft tissue release, mobilizations, and/or thrust manipulations. Vestibular rehabilitation techniques (including habituation and adaptation), oculomotor control, neuromotor control (including proprioceptive and kin- esthetic awareness), and balance exercises were added to each subject’s treatment regimen as indicated.” Then for the second group the researchers delivered more sham treatments, “the treating physical therapist delivered interventions that ranged from sham, subtherapeutic, and non-progressive therapeutic techniques to minimally progressive therapeutic techniques.”
Results
The researchers results showed that those in group 1 had a median release time of less than 16 days, whereas those in the sham group had a median release time of 26 days. Furthermore, the researchers found that those with a previous concussion recovered faster than those who did not have a previous concussion.
Moving forward
These results could have good implications for future research because it demonstrated that individualized concussion treatment is a viable option to help athletes get back to play sooner than they might have regularly. Additionally, knowing what individual treatments help the most could also help the proliferation of those treatments as well as bring the cost of distributing them to more patients less expensive.
