Neck plays part in concussion recovery: Tufui

AN Invercargillbased specialist is certain people are looking in the wrong place when assessing concussions in sport.

She is also confident many rugby players are suffering symptoms which could be fixed.

Head injuries in sport have been well documented recently as awareness grows around the impact concussion has on everyday life.

Several professional rugby players — Ben Afeaki, Craig Clarke, Shane Christie, James Broadhurst, Jared Payne included — have walked away from the sport after battling concussion symptoms.

Headache and migraine physiotherapist Helen Tufui owns The Headache Clinic, which has practices in Southland, Christchurch and Auckland.

Tufui was frustrated because she believed the neck was overlooked when it came to concussion.

‘‘The average force to the head during a concussion injury is 90G. It only takes 4G of force to disrupt the equilibrium at the top of the neck, so there is a high probability that the upper cervical spine is damaged when a concussion is sustained,’’ she said.

Most postconcussion treatment focused on the brain, with rest often recommended to let the brain heal, Tufui said.

She said rest should certainly be encouraged but believed the rest needed to be done in a way that puts less strain on the neck.

She felt sitting and lying around could affect posture. Poor posture hindered blood flow to the brain and that resulted in fatigue, poor cognition and ‘‘brain fog’’, Tufui said.

Tufui has started to work with Rugby Southland which has included providing treatment for some Southland Stags players who have had head knocks.

Phil Halder, a key Stags player in the 2017 Mitre 10 Cup, was knocked out in a club rugby fixture last year.

After a week of fatigue and being in a foggy state, he was sent by Stags doctor Caroline Stewart to see Tufui.

‘‘I didn’t feel right, I just felt dull. She did a couple of things with my neck and almost immediately I was feeling better,’’ Halder said.

‘‘I’d never heard of it before I went out there, but it cleared me up. It helped my posture as well. There is definitely something to it.’’

Tufui acknowledged there probably were some sceptics, but she was keen to start a conversation with New Zealand Rugby about her thoughts.