By Matt Wiley | June 8
With the passing of every NFL football season, it seems that concussions continue to make even more headlines. Luckily for local athletes, no matter the sport, Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC) is now a certified concussion treatment center, the only one of its kind in Pasco County. The concussion center is part of the hospital’s new Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Institute.
According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC), more than 1.7 million traumatic brain injuries occur each year, 75 percent of which are concussions. Whether it’s from sports, a car accident or a fall, identifying concussions can be difficult, as the symptoms of some concussions can be milder than others, even though the condition still exists.
Enter Dr. Jonathon Phillips, MD, CAQSM (Certificate of Added Qualification in Sports Medicine), and founder of the FHWC Concussion Center, which is located on the first floor of the recently opened FHWC Wellness Center. Dr. Phillips is educating parents and athletes, alike, on the dangers and proper treatment of concussions.
“It’s very important for parents and kids to get educated about concussions because they don’t always consider (every minor brain injury to be) a concussion,” Dr. Phillips explains. “It’s not always the concussion that knocks someone out that is the bad one. There are a lot of little things that can happen. A player may come to a coach or parent with a headache or an inability to concentrate, but there wasn’t a major incident on the field. Those are the kinds of concussions that can last one to two months instead of 5-7 days.”
Dr. Phillips explains that knowing where to go to get treatment for a concussion also is important.
“There isn’t really a wide range of physicians you can see to get the appropriate concussion management,” he says. “Most folks aren’t educated about which providers to visit. You have to go to a place that is known to manage the condition. Imaging capabilities are not always necessary, just the proper training. Usually, the doctors with the proper training are primary care physicians who also specialize in sports medicine, or neurologists, pediatricians and physiatrists (physical rehabilitation physicians). However, not every one of those types of physicians is always trained, which is why it’s good to go a certified concussion center, like we have here.”
A Full Gamut Of Tests
As Dr. Phillips explains, there are a multitude of tests that you have to do to come up with the clinical concussion diagnosis, One of the most simply administered, but actually most complex, tests — called an ImPACT evaluation — is actually done completely on the internet.
“It’s a very visual, spatial test that challenges memory, reaction time and a couple of other parameters done completely on a computer,” Dr. Phillips explains. “It takes about 25 minutes to do.”
I actually took the test to get a better idea of what Dr. Phillips meant. It’s a good thing it wasn’t for a grade because it turned out to be much more complex than I expected, which is the point.
The tests vary from remembering a series of numbers, shapes or words to determine if the color spelled out inside a shape matches the color of the letters. However, for the best results, athletes are encouraged to take the test before ever stepping onto the field
By taking the test before a concussion can occur, doctors, such as Dr. Phillips, can establish a baseline with which to compare the test results if the athlete does end up suffering from a head injury on the field and takes the test again. By comparing the numbers, the doctors at the FHWC concussion center can determine how severe a concussion an athlete has suffered and take the necessary steps to treat the condition.
“This whole idea of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of concussions is so critically important,” says Tracy Clouser, director of marketing for FHWC. “We know that the schools and athletic associations and youth leagues are strapped for resources, so if we can provide some of those resources through education and training, we’re really excited about that.”
In addition to being the official orthopedic and sports medicine and outpatient rehabilitation provider of the Tampa Bay Storm Arena Football League team, FHWC also is the lead sponsor of this summer’s Josh Freeman Football Camp, which is being held June 19-20 at Wesley Chapel High on Wells Rd.
During the camp, hosted by the Tampa Bay Bucs’ starting QB, on Thursday, June 20, Dr. Phillips will be giving a lecture for parents about concussions, including how to identify signs and symptoms, the next steps to take for treatment and the importance of ImPACT evaluations. FHWC’s Dr. Christopher Baker, MD, an orthopedic surgeon, also will be on hand to speak with parents about sports injuries.
The concussion center is just one part of FHWC’s new Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Institute, which also offers other orthopedic services and specializes in treating injuries to the musculoskeletal system sustained from playing sports. Due to its location on FHWC’s campus, the Institute is able to provide diagnostic digital imaging using the hospital’s state-of-the-art imaging technology, such as its 128-slice CT scanner, to determine treatment options.
Depending upon the severity of an injury, the Institute also can offer surgical intervention, as well as extensive therapy and in-patient or out-patient rehabilitation, in the FHWC Wellness Center’s new rehab center to help athletes get back in the game faster. The rehab center even features an “Alter-G” (or anti-gravity) treadmill, which can support up to 80 percent of a patient’s body weight, allowing patients to walk on lower-body injuries much sooner than normal. From personal experience, I can say, “it’s almost like running on the moon.”
For more information about the FHWC Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Institute, please visit FHWesleyChapel.org. For info about the Josh Freeman Football Camp visit ProCamps.com/JoshFreeman.
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