Unmarked Detour: Mild Aerobic Exercise Helped Recovery From Post-Concussion Syndrome

Dorothy Bedford talks about how, about six weeks after her daughter Heidi's concussion, during her second medical leave from school, she began walking - first around the block and then over time up to a mile - following an experimental protocol developed at SUNY-Buffalo which showed that mild aerobic exercise helped those like Heidi, diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome (PCS) when their symptoms continued longer than six weeks after injury.

An important part of the Buffalo protocol, notes Bedford, - which is not be confused with the graduated return to play protocol - was closely monitoring Heidi's heart rate and blood pressure, which required the purchase of a heart-rate monitor so she would know at what level of aerobic activity symptoms would set in and could set an alarm on the monitor to go off at a pulse rate just below that at which her symptoms re-appeared. 

For a companion articles by Dorothy Bedford about the Buffalo protocol, click here. 

For other articles in her series, "Unmarked Detour," click here.