How does doctor tell difference between soft-tissue injury and concussion after a car accident? i was in a "minor accident" and am developing headaches, blurry vision, nausea...how can my dr tell the difference between problems caused by neck injury or ca

Hello. : Hello. Your symptoms are quite suggestive of a concussion. The following are possible symptoms of a concussion: headache, nausea, vomiting, confusion, blurred vision, slurred speech, weakness, feeling dazed, numbness, lack of coordination, problems with short term memory, dizziness as well as repeating things over and over. You can develop a concussion with or without loss of consciousness. The soft tissue injury to a neck could present with stiffness, pain, tenderness, swelling or bruising to the neck. The concussion effects the brain itself. Take care. I hope you feel better soon.

Dr : Dr fowler has told you correctly that your symptoms and signs are likely signs of a concussion and are not likely due to a neck injury or soft tissue injury. To answer your specific question, that's all a doctor has to do, is know your signs and symptoms and tell you that they relate to brain function (and dysfunction) and not to your neck. Tests don't exist for concussion, except in a negative sense: you could have a ct scan of the head to make sure you don't have a hemorrhage inside your head or a brain tissue injury (contusion); you could have an eeg to make sure your brain's electrical activity is normal; you could have studies of the arteries in your neck to make sure they are not injured, impairing the blood supply to your brain. These are all expensive and probably unnecessary, if you see a capable physician who on the basis of history and physical examination is sure that you don't have one of these less common but serious complications of head trauma. I hope you were wearing a seat belt and were in a car properly equipped with working airbags. This is very important in prevention of serious head (and other) injuries from car accidents.

Hard to tell: It is hard to determine the difference between these different injuries. The nausea, headache and blurry vision are typical of a concussion, and a car accident may easily cause this. This is a clinical diagnosis. A neck injury might have symptoms of neck tenderness or soreness with neck movement, but not always. Some neck injuries can be diagnosed with xray and MRI. Concussions are not.

Measurement Tools: Standardized Assessment of Concussion (SAC) is one tool that looks at orientation, memory, concentration, and recall. It is used in the MACE (Military Acute Concussion Evaluation. Cut off 25