When someone in your family experiences a concussion, life changes—often in quiet, confusing, complicated, and invisible ways. Our journey began with uncertainty, a whirlwind of symptoms, countless doctor appointments, and many unanswered questions. We weren’t prepared for the emotional weight or the physical challenges that would follow.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, isolated, or unsure where to turn, you’re not alone. I wish I could go back in time and give my past self a few words of wisdom about navigating the world of concussions. It’s a confusing, often isolating experience, especially when you’re facing it as a family.
Our family’s journey with concussions has taught us so much. It’s been tough, no doubt, but through the challenges, I’ve learned invaluable lessons that I hope will provide comfort, guidance, and a sense of solidarity for families embarking on a similar path. These lessons are organized into five categories—Expectations, Recovery, Support, Symptoms, and Tools—and are grounded in the lived experience of navigating concussion recovery as a caregiver and parent. In their own right are separate podcast topics which I will cover individually.
No matter where you are in your journey, I hope these insights help you in some way to accelerate your recovery and or lessen the frustration along the way.
EXPECTATIONS
1. The Invisible Injury
Concussions don’t come with bandages or casts. There’s no visual cue to signal pain or limitation. Imagine your brain is like a complex computer system. A concussion is like a software glitch, not a hardware malfunction. Problems arise not because there’s visible damage, but because things aren’t working as they should. That makes it difficult for people to understand the severity. We found that often, expressing it as a ‘software’ issue helped others grasp the concept. Learning to advocate—gently and persistently—became essential.
2. Pre-existing Conditions Can Intensify
ADHD, anxiety, and sensory sensitivities didn’t just stick around—they amplified. What was once minimal to non-existent became overwhelming. Pre-existing conditions, whether physical or mental, can significantly affect concussion recovery. Recognizing this helped us extend more patience and adjust support systems accordingly. It’s essential to inform healthcare providers about all pre-existing conditions to ensure comprehensive care and anticipate potential complications.
3. Recovery Isn’t Linear
We expected steady progress, but healing didn’t follow a straight line. It came in waves—setbacks, plateaus, and occasional leaps forward. We often thought, “We’re finally turning a corner,” only to have symptoms resurface the next day. That used to feel discouraging—until we realized that even those fluctuations were signs the brain was working to heal. Once we let go of a “timeline,” everything got a bit easier emotionally.
4. The Impact On Family
Concussions don’t just affect the person injured—they ripple through the family. Siblings felt left out, others felt neglected, and as caregivers, we faced fatigue and frustration. It’s essential to check in, hold space for emotions, and share what’s happening openly. Family therapy and open communication can help regain a sense of unity.
5. You Are Not Alone
t’s common to feel isolated during concussion recovery but remember, you’re not alone. Many others have gone through similar experiences. Connecting with a support group or online community can provide valuable emotional support and practical advice. That connection was a lifeline.
RECOVERY
6. Fueling Brain Repair – A Healthy Lifestyle Matters
Healing isn’t just about time—it’s about how you use that time. Nutritious food, hydration, mindfulness, gentle movement, having fun, and good sleep played a huge role in regulating symptoms and improving resilience. Healing requires a whole-body approach. A healthy lifestyle isn’t nice to have – it’s foundational to having a good day.
7. Sensory Exposure Requires Pacing
Many concussion patients experience heightened sensory sensitivity. Noise, light, and motion became instant triggers and very overwhelming. It’s important to gradually reintroduce sensory stimuli, such as light and noise, at a pace that doesn’t exacerbate symptoms. We had to reintroduce sensory experiences gradually—5 minutes in a grocery store, then rest to reset. Pacing is crucial in this process to avoid setbacks.
8. Exercise Helps—When Ready
Exercise scared us at first. But under guidance, we learned that it’s essential to recovery. Once cleared, light exercise helped calm the nervous system and reduced anxiety. It restored balance, mood, and energy. But timing is everything. We started slow, with short walks and riding an incumbent bike for a few minutes, and gradually built up adding 30-second increments working with the concussion clinic care team to guide the way.
SUPPORT
9. Accommodations for Concussion Recovery 504 Plans and IEPs Are Your Friends
Before our child (K-12) had a 504 plan, school felt impossible. The workload was overwhelming and teachers didn’t understand the limitations. The school became a major stressor until we formalized accommodations under a 504 plan or IEP (individualized education plan). For example, approval to wear headphones and a baseball cap, reduced screen time, flexible deadlines, reduced workload, and scheduled breaks made learning manageable again. Accommodations are one of the most powerful support tools you can put in place. Understanding and advocating for these rights is crucial for academic success during recovery.
10. Animal Therapy Offers Real Benefits
Our dog became a healing partner—offering comfort, grounding, calm, emotional support, cognitive stimulation, and a steady presence. Whether through service animals, therapy animals or pets, emotional support can be incredibly soothing for the nervous system and very powerful in concussion recovery. Listen to the podcast to understand which type of support and what type of animal would be best for support.
11. Understanding Human Design Helped Us Personalize Support
Exploring Human Design opened our eyes to how energy and processing styles vary. It also gave us insight into why certain environments and routines were draining. It helped us stop forcing strategies that didn’t fit and start honoring individual needs can help in creating a more effective and personalized recovery plan such as understanding personal strengths, weaknesses, and needs.
12. Multidisciplinary Care Is Critical
Traditional neurology helped us understand symptoms and treat headaches and sleep disturbances, but it wasn’t enough. Our care team included functional neurology, physical therapy, vision therapy, mental health support, and unconventional practitioners all played a role in addressing specific symptoms and coordinating care or optimal recovery.
13. Vision Therapy May Be A Game Changer
Our child struggled with fatigue, headaches, concentration, anxiety, and mood long after the initial injury. Vision therapy—something we’d never heard of—turned out to be the key to resolving these persistent symptoms driven by always being in fight or flight. By lessening her existing eye prescription, as they were too strong for her brain to handle, changing lenses to 15% blue tint (not blue light glasses) took her out of fight or flight, and vision therapy exercises helped get the left eye from working so hard with minimal consistency and realigned right and left eyes to work together again. Vision therapy helped resolve many symptoms we thought were unrelated.
14. Therapy Isn’t Optional—It’s Essential
Concussion recovery involves emotional processing: grief, identity shifts, frustration, and trauma. CBT and trauma-informed care helped our entire family feel seen, heard, and supported. Therapy helps the survivor, Moms/caregivers, and other family members with emotional support and coping strategies. Finding the right therapist who understands concussion recovery is extremely helpful.
SYMPTOMS
15. Energy Management Is Everything
We learned to treat energy like a battery: once it’s spent, it’s gone for the day. Planning around energy limits, not just time, reduced crashes and symptom flares. Planning rest proactively as prevention —not just reactively as recovery—helped prevent symptom spikes and emotional meltdowns. Everyday activities like talking, walking, or writing drained energy fast. Using colors (green/yellow/red) helped us all understand what level was left in the battery and respect the limitations.
16. Headaches Aren’t Just Headaches
Headaches are a common and often debilitating symptom of concussions. They can vary in type and intensity. Concussion-related headaches can stem from vision, posture, overstimulation, or even dehydration. Tracking patterns helped us manage treatment through medication, lifestyle changes, and stress reduction techniques. Experiment with headache-reducing strategies such as cold or heat therapy, massage, certain scents (lavender or peppermint), or dim lighting. Don’t hesitate to seek medical help for severe or persistent headaches as it is a complex symptom to achieve symptom relief. I’d also suggest getting a neurologist involved early. One family member had headaches that moved around her head all day and would go to sleep at night to sleep it off only to wake up with a different headache. A neurologist was critical in attaining symptom relief.
17. Sleep Struggles Are Real
Sleep disruption is common—and it affects everything as it can exacerbate all other symptoms. It is also essential for brain healing. We prioritized good sleep hygiene, created calming nighttime routines, and consulted specialists when all else failed as sleep became one of our biggest challenges as our daughter developed both types of insomnia, hard to fall asleep and hard to stay asleep. Improving sleep helped everything else get better. A well-rested brain heals better—and feels everything more clearly.
18. Fatigue Is One of the Hardest Symptoms To Solve
Not just tiredness—fatigue. Deep, unshakable exhaustion that doesn’t resolve with rest. Both cognitive and physical fatigue are common and can be among the most persistent symptoms. Fatigue doesn’t always respond to naps or extra sleep. It’s a deep kind of exhaustion that makes even thinking feel impossible. Accepting this and learning strategies to manage fatigue is key to recovery. This was one of the most misunderstood symptoms. It wasn’t laziness—it was neurological helped us respond with more compassion and smarter pacing. We had to learn to stop expecting “bounce back” days and honor the brain’s need to rest deeply. The only solution was radical pacing and self-kindness in addition to quite a few of the other items in this list of 20 things I wish I knew.
Tools
19. Neurofeedback Gives Your Brain A Boost
Neurofeedback—also known as EEG biofeedback—is a non-invasive, evidence-informed therapy that supports brain regulation by providing real-time feedback on brainwave activity. It’s gaining traction as a complementary tool in concussion recovery, especially for individuals experiencing lingering symptoms such as fatigue, anxiety, sleep disturbances, headaches, or difficulty concentrating. We saw benefits from neurofeedback in all 5 areas and calmer moods. It’s not a magic fix and it is exhausting after each session, but it was a helpful tool in our toolkit that gave me my daughter back almost 90% from pre-concussion standards.
20. Daily Ritual and Positive Mindset Matters
Never underestimate the power of positivity. Establishing a daily ritual that includes positive thinking and setting aspirations can provide a mental framework for recovery. We started each day with a small ritual, and affirmations cards to set the intention of the day. The routine of shuffling the deck and picking a card gave us structure and helped us focus on hope, not just symptoms. A positive mindset doesn’t erase symptoms, but it does help carry you through them with a peaceful, quiet start to the day.
If you’re at the beginning of your family’s concussion recovery journey: take a breath and be kind to yourself. You won’t be able to figure it all out today, a week or a month. There’s no perfect roadmap, but there are tools, people, and communities ready to support you.
Healing is possible. And so is feeling seen, empowered, and more at peace as you walk through it knowing a bit more than those before you.
If you’re looking for resources, support groups, or professional guidance tailored to concussion recovery, reach out (MOMS HEAL HEADS on Facebook or fill out the Contact Us form) — I’m happy to share what I’ve found most helpful to accelerate recovery for my family. After all, healing happens faster together.
