While much has been learned about post-concussion recovery, rehabilitation remains a complex, highly personalized process. This is especially true for athletes and military personnel whose physical deficits, particularly in neuromuscular control, may delay their return to duty.
Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus are studying ways to bridge this rehabilitation gap while reducing the risk of future injuries. A study in the Journal of Sport Rehabilitation examined the feasibility of offering a virtual neuromuscular training (NMT) smartphone app that puts exercise information at a patient’s fingertips.
David Howell, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Orthopedics at the CU School of Medicine and the study’s senior author.
“Your brain can’t perceive all the subtle things that are going on in your body that might predispose you to an injury (post-concussion),” said Howell, who also directs the Colorado Concussion Research Laboratory. Athletes or service members “have many sport- or duty-specific needs that aren’t met with traditional rehabilitation, so we realized there needs to be more thought around the neuromuscular control system.”
Howell explains the challenges of treating concussions and the benefits of the neuromuscular training app in the following Q&A.
The interview was edited for length and clarity.