How Long Does a Concussion Last?

Contributed by: Dennis Fortier, President, Medical Care Corporation

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How long does a concussion last? This is a common question.

Historically, science has tried to answer this question by measuring the duration of concussion symptoms. Often, depending on the severity of the concussing event, symptom such as dizziness, blurred vision, and interrupted sleep are completely resolved within a few days or a couple of weeks.

However, we also know that many injuries, to various tissues in the body, are not completely healed until long after clinical symptoms have faded. This may also be true of injuries to the brain.

In fact, new research from the Mind Research Network in Albuquerque, N.M. supports such thinking. In a paper published in the online edition of Neurology, researchers showed that physical changes to concussed brains persisted for many months after symptoms had resolved.

One implication is that the brain needs longer to heal than the period demarcated by clear symptoms.

A second, and perhaps more important implication, is that brain injury and symptoms of brain injury may not be always correlated. In that regard, the constant, low-impact collisions of many sports may be injuring the brain in ways that are not obvious in terms of symptoms, but are injurious just the same.

No symptom of brain injury doesn't necessarily mean no brain injury.