Concussion Rehab in Syracuse, NY
Resting in a dark room until symptoms pass is out-of-date advice, and it makes a good number of people worse. Concussion has subtypes, they respond to different treatment, and testing tells us which one you have.
Concussion Isn't One Injury
Two people with identical scans can need almost opposite treatment. Working out which pattern you have is most of the job.
Twelve Years, One Injury
Marrowdale opened on South Crouse Avenue in 2014, a few minutes from the university and in a city with a great deal of winter sport.
Treating one injury exclusively means the assessment is unusually sharp. When a student says the second half of a page goes blurry, or a hockey player says the rink is fine but the corridor afterwards isn't, we recognise the pattern immediately — and those two descriptions point at completely different treatment.
We are also the clinic people arrive at when things have gone on too long. A good share of our caseload is three, six and twelve months out, told to wait it out, getting steadily more frightened that this is permanent. It usually isn't.
- ✓Concussion and nothing else since 2014
- ✓Buffalo Concussion Treadmill Test on site
- ✓Return-to-learn letters within the week
- ✓Late presentations actively welcomed
Ninety Minutes to a Subtype and a Plan
Symptom Inventory and History
A structured symptom scale, the mechanism of injury, prior concussions, sleep, mood and exactly what makes things worse. The triggers are usually more diagnostic than the symptom list.
Vestibular and Ocular Testing
Eye tracking, convergence, saccades, vestibular-ocular reflex and motion sensitivity. Most of the useful findings in concussion come from watching how the eyes and inner ear behave.
Neck Examination
Cervical range, joint testing and muscle tenderness — because whiplash and concussion happen in the same instant and the neck produces symptoms nearly identical to the brain injury.
Exertion Testing
A Buffalo Concussion Treadmill Test to find the heart rate at which your symptoms begin. That number becomes your prescribed training zone, and it is re-tested as you improve.
The Plan, and the Letters
Subtype, treatment, expected timeline, and — if you need them — the school or work accommodation letters, usually within a couple of days.
The Stages, and Who Signs Them Off
Symptom-Limited Activity
Daily activities that don't provoke symptoms, plus light aerobic work at your tested threshold. This starts within days, not weeks.
Light and Sport-Specific Exercise
Walking or stationary cycling, then running and skating drills. No head impact, no resistance training yet, and at least 24 hours at each stage.
Non-Contact Training
Full training drills, passing, resistance work. Cognitive load goes up here too, and this is where problems that were hiding tend to reappear.
Full Contact and Clearance
Only after a full symptom-free return to school or work, and only with physician clearance. We provide the testing and the documentation; the medical clearance is the physician's call.
Mostly People Told to Wait It Out
Eight months of headaches and screens making her feel sick, and every scan clear. Here they worked out it was mostly ocular-motor, gave her eye exercises that seemed absurdly simple, and she was back in class full-time in seven weeks.
I was told to sit in a dark room until I felt better. Four months of that and I was worse. They put me on a treadmill in week one here — carefully, and stopping at symptoms — and it turned everything around.
The school wanted a letter and nobody knew who should write it. Marrowdale had it over in two days, with specific accommodations, and updated it every fortnight as he improved. That alone was worth the visit.
Third concussion and I was quietly terrified about whether I should keep playing. They gave me a straight answer with reasoning behind it instead of either 'you'll be fine' or 'you should retire'.
Quiet, Dimmable, and Screen-Free Waiting
Every part of the space assumes light and noise are difficult for the people using it.
The Letter, and What Should Be In It
A return-to-learn letter that just says 'no screens' is unhelpful to everybody. Teachers can't roster around it and students end up either pushed too hard or held back too long.
Ours specify: how many minutes of sustained screen work, whether tests should be deferred, what to do about note-taking, whether a quiet room is needed and for how long, and when the next review is. We update them every fortnight as things improve, because a plan written in week one is wrong by week three.
We'll also speak to a school nurse, an athletic trainer or a coach directly — and we do baseline testing for teams before the season, which makes every post-injury decision easier for everyone involved.
- ✓Specific, actionable accommodation letters
- ✓Updated every fortnight as recovery progresses
- ✓Direct contact with nurses, trainers and coaches
- ✓Pre-season baseline testing for teams
What Patients and Parents Ask
Shouldn't we just rest until the symptoms go?
Only for the first day or two. Beyond that, strict rest is associated with slower recovery and more mood symptoms. Current consensus is relative rest briefly, then a gradual return to light activity and sub-threshold aerobic exercise. It is the biggest change in concussion care in a decade and a lot of advice hasn't caught up.
The CT scan was normal. Does that rule out concussion?
No — and a normal scan is expected. CT and MRI look for bleeds and structural damage, which is exactly why they're done after a significant head injury. Concussion is a functional problem that doesn't show on standard imaging. The diagnosis is clinical.
It's been six months. Is it too late?
No. Persistent post-concussion symptoms respond well to targeted treatment even long after the injury — particularly the vestibular, ocular and cervical subtypes, which are the ones most often missed early. A good share of our caseload is months or years out.
What is a Buffalo treadmill test?
A graded treadmill protocol that finds the heart rate at which your symptoms start. That threshold becomes a prescribed exercise zone — hard enough to help, below the level that provokes symptoms — and it's re-tested as you improve. It's both a diagnostic and the core of the treatment.
When can my child go back to sport?
After a full, symptom-free return to school, through a staged progression with at least 24 hours per stage, and with physician clearance. School first, always. We provide the testing and documentation at each stage; the medical clearance is the physician's.
Do you do baseline testing?
Yes, for individuals and for teams, ideally pre-season. Baselines make the post-injury decision much easier because we're comparing you to you rather than to a population average.
Book a Concussion Assessment
Same-week slots kept open for injuries in the last fortnight. Late presentations welcome too — it is very rarely too late.
South Crouse Avenue, Syracuse
Tell us when it happened and what makes the symptoms worse. Those two answers get us a long way before you arrive.