The best research says rest for 48 hours then try to return to low stress activities. The important part is to encourage good blood flow to the brain after this short rest period. They find that resting beyond 48 hours is counter-productive. It is almost universally suggested to not push through symptoms but to let symptoms guide activity levels. They do not see a benefit to the dark room rest concept except when light is a trigger of symptoms. Even then, simple reduction in exposure to bright light can help. Sunglasses, hats, and avoiding some bright environments is often adequate.

The goal is to help the brain flush toxins out while not causing more toxins from stress. Concussion is a process that cascades over a few days, not a single point in time event.

The jury is still out on when CBD is helpful. There are some in the NFL who claim it should be taken immediately after the concussion. The therapeutic dose appears to be quite high. One would need high concentrate CBD taken in a high absorption form. One could not smoke enough to get to those dosage levels.

One train of thought is that a single serving of alcohol in the evening can help with relaxation to prepare for sleep. The idea is that good relaxing sleep has more benefits that the negatives of a single serving of alcohol

It is impossible to use past experiences to project future concussion symptoms and recovery. Every concussion is different.

It is helpful to learn to moderate stress so that one can be proactive to not cause unnecessary stress after a head impact. One may not know the severity of a head impact for a day or two so living a low stress life for those first few days is worthwhile.

The only way to minimize damage is to avoid the head hit. There is not a way to make the head hit less damaging. Helmet often do not reduce impact forces at the lower impact levels many with PCS need. They are better at reducing high impact forces. Reducing risk without becoming paranoid about head bumps is best. An irrational fear of head bumps can cause distraction and poor coordination that result in more head bumps.

How are you doing with your therapies ?