Forward by Denise Stegall
Recently, my friend’s teenage son, an exceptional hockey player, recently suffered an injury during an intense game. He was diagnosed with a concussion prompting her to post on Facebook that ” he got his first concussion” as if she expected him to get more in the future.
Another friends daughter took a knee to her head during cheerleading practice and had migraines for months afterward.
These are not isolated incidents.
Over 3 million people in the United States suffer concussions each year from falls, car accidents and sports.
Approximately 6% of children and adolescents who visit an emergency room from sports-related injury involve a concussion.
This is serious stuff!
Most children do not lose consciousness (get “knocked out”) after a concussion. For example, in a recent study of high school athletes, less than 5% of those who had a concussion experienced a loss of consciousness.
The more common symptoms of a concussion include:
- confusion
- headaches
- memory problems
- dizziness, numbness or tingling
- blurry or double vision
- sensitivity to light or noise
- nausea
- feeling tired or groggy
- irritability
- problems with memory, concentration or sleep
- problems with balance or walking
Sometimes, the symptoms of a concussion show up right away, other times they appear hours or even days afterward which can make the diagnosis and recovery difficult.
Dr. Kalan Sittleburg takes the mystery out of diagnosis and recovery after a concussion.
Kalan Stittleburg grew up in Neillsville, WI which is a small town of about 2500 people located in central Wisconsin. He graduated from Neillsville High School and went to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology and a minor in Business.
He played football for five years at UWEC and was a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete for his play on the field and success in the classroom. Dr. Stittleburg played rugby for the Palmer College of Chiropractic Rugby Football Club while earning his Doctorate.
He has been and continues to be very active in the Upper Cervical community serving in various capacities of leadership boards and committees. He has spent a substantial amount of time outside the classroom honing his craft of being a NUCCA practitioner.
Dr. Stittleburg spent three months interning in Calgary, Alberta, Canada learning from a world-renowned NUCCA expert and president of the NUCCA organization, Dr. Jeff Scholten.