Concussion (or mild traumatic brain injury) symptoms resemble vestibular disorders. Complaints of headaches and migraines, dizziness, nausea, fatigue and visual disturbances are common for both groups. Last September I linked to an article about women having less myelinated vestibular nerves as compared to men, possibly explaining. why vestibular disorders are more common in women.
The following article looked at research comparing concussion recovery in girls vs boys.
Quick summary of this article:
-Recovering from a concussion typically takes female athletes more than twice as long as males, according to a new study that tracked hundreds of teenagers active in sports. Their analysis revealed the median recovery time for girls was 28 days—more than double that of boys, which was 11 days.
-Concussions may exacerbate a previous condition such as migraines, anxiety or depression, all of which are more common in girls compared to boys.
“maybe it’s actually not the concussion that’s still giving them the symptoms but the preexisting problems that were exacerbated [by the injury].”
-women also tend to experience more eye movement and visual stability issues following a concussion than men, which can require longer recovery times.
-Other researchers have proposed potential biological explanations for the gender difference such as women’s smaller necks, which give them less strength to absorb shock, and higher rates of glucose metabolism (a process that generates the body’s energy)
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