Knocking Out Long Term Effects Of The Knockout

Long term post-concussion syndrome is avoidable, has devastating effects for those suffering, and one Southland businesswomen has decided enough is enough.

An innovative event, Baseline, which has the ambitious goal to test New Zealand and to stamp out long -term post-concussion syndrome nationwide, is being spearheaded by Helen Tufui, founder of The Headache Clinic.

The inaugural Test NZ Baseline event will be held in Southland at the end of the month and will give the opportunity for attendees to have their medical and neurological baseline tested and recorded. This provides a normal, healthy function (baseline) recorded on a national database while the individual is well, providing a reference point and significantly reducing the risk of long-term damage following a future concussion.

Tufui is a trained physiotherapist and has been working exclusively in the field of headaches, migraines, and concussions for the past 8 years, and said New Zealand is a sporting nation that had concerning statistics on long-term damage from concussions.

Between 1997 and 2019, concussions presented to emergency departments have increased threefold.

“Long-term post-concussion syndrome is avoidable. We are a sporting nation, so we need to be proactive on this, I’m passionate to see our sporting communities tested, not just our elite athletes. I’d like to see this syndrome become a thing of the past.

“It’s devastating and its avoidable. So, we are offering the testing free to all who attend, it should be available to anyone that plays contact sport nationwide,” Tufui said.

When it comes to treating concussions, it’s important to identify which systems are involved in persisting symptoms. There is a lot of focus placed on the head, but the neck can be mistakenly thought of as one structure; however, the upper cervical spine is different to the rest of the spine - both in structure and function.

Injury to the cervical spine is inevitable with a concussion as it takes as little as 4.5g of force for a neck injury and 96g of force to sustain a concussion. Long-term effects of concussions are common from grass roots through to national teams, an innate risk of contact sports.

A sportsperson who knows these effects all too well is New Zealand All Black, Beauden Barrett, who had been unable to take the field and suffered weeks of persistent concussion symptoms before seeking treatment from Tufui at The Headache Clinic in early February.

A reduction in the long-term effects were almost immediate and following just his second treatment, he had gone from experiencing headaches 80% of the time, to being headache free 80% of the time.

“I’ve seen many teammates, including my older brother, leave the game due to concussion injuries and until a month ago I was struggling to accept the potential reality whilst trying many alternative treatments.

“I have seen immediate results from Helen’s work and I’m positive the Baseline event will have long-term benefits for our sports people across New Zealand,” Barrett said.

The Baseline event is open on Friday 25 March from 9am – 5pm and Saturday 26 March from 9am – 2pm at ILT Stadium Southland.

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