Originally Posted by erica21

Hey all-

Thought I would start a new thread because I was unsure of where to post about my visit to the clinic yesterday. I had a great visit yesterday, and it felt so good to be examined by people who actually know what they are talking about!

First of all, since I am 7 hours from Buffalo, Dr. Leddy said that we could correspond via email once I had my initial consultation, and would not need to return to the clinic. The doctor consultation is covered by insurance, but the exercise session is $250.

The physical therapist there administered the exercise. They hooked me up to a heart rate monitor and one of those sleeves that takes your blood pressure. We did the test on a treadmill and they started me off walking at 3.6, with each minute increasing the incline until we got to 15. Each minute they would also ask me to choose a number that matched the way I was feeling physically (not symptoms, but how hard it was/how tired I was). The goal was to reach a maximum heart rate with out exacerbating my symptoms. Based off of that maximum heart rate Dr. Leddy sends you home with the order to exercise 15-20 minutes at 80% of that maximum heart rate obtained in the test, but to stop if you have any increase of symptoms whatsoever.

During the test the PT was also talking about how many of the times someone who sustains a concussion usually develops neck problems, which will prolong concussion symptoms considerably if not dealt with properly. Both Dr. Leddy and the PT believe that most of my problems are not so much brain anymore, but neck.

Anyways, hope this is helpful to anyone whose interested in making an appointment.

Erica