What is Persistent Post-Concussion Syndrome (PPCS)?
Concussion is a type of mild or moderate traumatic brain injury caused due to a blow to the head (fall or accident) or due to severe shaking of the head (in an accident or during a free fall or even during a ride). You may be either conscious or unconscious when this kind of movement or injury happens to the brain. As a result, symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, fatigue, loss of concentration, and memory issues start showing up. Usually, these symptoms go away in a week to a few months. But, in the case of PPCS, the symptoms continue to persist affecting the cognitive ability, executive functioning and memory of the individual.
HBOT can help improve PPCS Symptoms in children
HBOT has proved to be an effective treatment for PPCS symptoms in adults. However, there hasn’t been any study done for kids suffering from PPCS. Recently, in the month of September 2022, few researchers including Dr. Amir Hadanny, Dr. Merav Catalogna etc. conducted a study on 25 children between the ages of 8 and 15 who were suffering from PPCS. All of these children were suffering from PPCS symptoms for over six months.
They were divided into two groups, one group containing 15 children who actually underwent HBOT treatment and the other 10 were put in a sham group. At the end of 60 sessions, here are the findings they came up with:
- Significant improvement was seen in cognitive functioning of the brain including memory, executive functioning, behavioural symptoms (hyperactivity etc) among the children who actually underwent HBOT.
- Microstructural alterations in different areas of the brain were noticed through MRI
- Significant improvement in the hyperactivity score, executive score, learning problem score and negative impression.
- Positive neuro-physical developments were also noticed.
The researchers concluded that HBOT can help children with PPCS to overcome the symptoms to a great extent even if they have suffered mild or moderate brain trauma several years ago.
What is HBOT?
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is an alternative medicine free treatment procedure used in conjunction with other treatments to treat several medical conditions. The patient is made to sit or lie down in a closed chamber filled with 100% pure medical grade oxygen at a pressure 1.5 to 3 times that of normal atmospheric pressure. As a result, at least 5 times more oxygen gets dissolved in the blood and plasma and is carried to every corner of the body. This helps the body regenerate, rejuvenate and repair cells, tissues, blood vessels etc.
To learn more about HBOT, please visit the ‘What is HBOT’ page.
