Concussion Management

At Parkway we work with your doctor following a concussion to help him or her with diagnosing various aspects of the injury and with a return to play decisions.

The first step begins with education and reassurance that when managed well, most concussions recover fully. Please see our article on WHAT IS A CONCUSSION for more information including the best available evidence on timelines for concussion recovery.

Every effort will be made to ensure that any concussed player is seen at Parkway Physiotherapy + Performance Centre within 1-2 days of the injury. This is more difficult over the weekend, but we make these injuries our absolute priorities. Team members have time set aside each day of the week for concussion injuries.

At the initial visit a history of the injury is recorded, and an assessment of the concussion is performed.

Since a concussion is primarily a metabolic injury, the first step is rest. This rest period should not be too long and we suggest that 1 or 2 days is likely all that should be considered. This said the rest period should minimize any physical or cognitive stress, including avoiding computer games, texting and television. At Parkway we DO NOT advocate use of the ImPACT tool at this time because it is a lengthy and cognitively demanding test and this is a period for rest.

The next step includes a return to learning or non-physical work phase.

Once the “Return to Learning” phase is progressing physical testing is then initiated. The athlete is required to attend Parkway for this phase and if passed will lead to return to non-contact light exercise. If the testing causes symptoms to worsen then the patient stop exercise and retesting will occur a few days later.

If symptom-free, the player will then be cleared for intense, non-contact sport that can include weight training.

The final stages will include a demanding physical test.

The last step is a full contact practice before any competitive return.

Your practitioner will communicate with your doctor the various steps that were undertaken to ensure a safe return to sport. We support your doctor making the final call on return to play however our opinion is that only IF ALL OF THE ABOVE STEPS HAVE BEEN CLEARED, CAN WE MAKE A SAFE RETURN TO PLAY DECISION.