Wide Variety of Symptoms

There is no specific set of symptoms that can identify a concussion injury.  The symptoms of concussion vary as much as human beings vary widely.

The single common identifying symptoms is that of  alteration of mental function immediately after a forceful blow which jars the brain, i.e. “brain fog” or worse (loss of consciousness).

Other concussion symptoms vary widely.  The collection of concussion symptoms varies as much as human beings vary.  Some are short, some tall.  Some skinny, some fat-and so on.  The same is true of concussion symptoms.  People who are prone to dizziness will typically develop dizziness.  People prone to headaches will develop post-concussion headaches-or migraines.

Some of the more common symptoms of concussion are as follows:

• • Dizziness or balance difficulty.
  • Vision dysfunction (blurred, double, loss of visual field, sensitivity to light).
  • Headache (which can have a delayed onset).
  • Fatigue/Sleep dysfunction (either excessive sleepiness or difficulty sleeping).
  • Irritability/Personality Change.

Note:  The American Psychiatric Association (APA) standards recognize the wide variety of symptoms.  To establish a diagnosis of post concussion syndrome, the APA requires only a cognitive deficit of attention and/or memory and 3 of the 8 major concussion 0symptoms (fatigue, sleep disturbance, headache, dizziness, irritability, affective disturbance, personality change, apathy).  The 3 symptoms certainly can vary widely from case to case.