Return to Play: The Better Way
Concussion Balance Training for Athletes
Common symptoms of concussions include headaches, dizziness, fatigue, loss of balance, and difficulty concentrating. And its no wonder, when a patient suffers a concussion their visual, vestibular, and somatosensory systems are affected. These are the primary sensory components for balance.
Concussion balance testing and training should focus on assessing and treating deficits of the visual, vestibular, and somatosensory systems. Traditional static balance testing simply cannot challenge these systems to a level necessary to identify deficits that would halt a return to play.
How does FYZICAL Test for Return to Play? | COBALTTM
COBALT™ (COncussion BALance Test) is a new balance tool that allows FYZICAL to determine a patient’s readiness for return to activity. COBALT deploys a force plate and visual tracking software across 8 unique conditions assessing function of the three primary sensory balance systems. Failure to complete the test, or more than one error (ex. stepping off the plate, opening eyes in a closed eye task) in the later conditions indicates the patient is not ready to return to activity.
COBALT can be used post-concussion, and it is challenging enough to capture balance deficits in even the most highly trained athletes.
Ready to Return to Play? FYZICAL can help clear the way.
Submitted by Dr. Lauren Collier Peterson, PT, DPT
Clinical Director FYZICAL Therapy & Balance Centers of Oklahoma City
Dr. Peterson and her staff provide Physical Therapy for patients with pelvic floor dysfunction, imbalance and falls risk, & orthopedic injuries in OKC.
She has treated hundreds of men and women with pelvic floor issues ranging from incontinence and constipation to pain and prolapse. While she has a particular clinical interest in pelvic pain disorders, she wants everyone to enjoy good pelvic health and to know that “Leaks are not normal!”
Massingale, et al. (2018). Comparison of uninjured and concussed adolescent athletes on the concussion balance test (COBALT). J. Neurologic Phys Ther, 42, 149-154.