Vim & Vigor - Spring 2021 - 56

SPRING 2021 VIM & VIGOR

RETURNING TO HER
FIRST LOVE

Bajo gave up competitive horse riding for a few years during graduate
school. But when she went looking
for the best place to complete her
two-year clinical training to become
board-certified in neuropsychology, she knew UVA was a good fit.
She later joined the faculty in the
UVA Department of Psychiatry and
Neurobehavioral Sciences, deciding
to stay partly because Charlottesville
happens to be in a major center for
competitive eventing, which combines backcountry-style and arenastyle horse riding. In June 2019, she
got a white and gray mare named
Tika and started training at a farm
about 8 miles past Charlottesville's
popular Foxfield horse races.
" I chose UVA to do my fellowship
because it has a very, very good
program in sports concussion but
also epilepsy. When I was looking
at where to do my clinical training,
I had retired my competitive horse,
so I wasn't in that mind space when
I first came here. But being in a
competitive horse-riding area is
absolutely a draw to stay. ... Not only
do I love UVA, but it would be hard
for me to be anywhere else now.
There's such a strong community
here for equestrian sports. I really
did luck out. " *

Activity Is Best
for a Healing Brain

As a neuropsychology expert, Stephanie Bajo
sees patients who are still having symptoms
four to six months after a concussion or other
brain injury. Her job is to determine what factors might be delaying recovery and causing
memory or processing problems.
" With concussion, we expect people to
improve back to their baseline functioning
and not to have lifelong disturbances to their
brain functioning, " Bajo says. When people
don't improve in a normal window of time, it
can be due to reasons not related to the brain
injury, such as stress, anxiety or following
outdated medical advice. Being sedentary
and cooped up in a dark room for many days
will only prolong recovery from a concussion. New standards recommend that after a
48-hour rest, start walking fast enough to get
your heart rate up or ride a stationary bike
as long as symptoms are improving.

Think You Have a
Concussion?

A physical blow to the body or head can lead
to concussion. Signs include dazed feelings,
confusion, nausea and blurred vision.
Symptoms typically resolve within days or
weeks. For more facts about concussions,
visit uvahealth.com/concussion.

PHOTO BY JACKSON SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY

concussion, Bajo says, but it's important to know too that a concussion
can occur after a high-impact fall
even when a rider does not hit his or
her head. A helmet, she adds, won't
protect a rider from concussion but
can protect against a skull fracture.
Bajo has been tracking emergency
visits to UVA and has found a higher
rate of concussions among horse
riders than even football players and
athletes in other high-impact sports.
Although she knows horse riding
and other high-impact sports can
temporarily injure the brain and its
ability to process, she is also aware
that the benefits far outweigh the
risks. " While it's understandable to
have concerns when your child wants
to participate in a high-impact sport, "
she says, " there's also a detriment that
can occur by not allowing your child
to have the support and community
that sports allow and bring to people. "
It's rare when she needs to advise
an athlete to stop playing altogether
because he or she has experienced
eight or nine concussions, which
can have a compounding effect and
lead to lasting damage.
If symptoms-confusion, dizziness or an extreme headache, for
example-are getting worse, it's
important to seek medical care right
away to rule out a more serious injury,
such as a brain bleed or swelling.

http://www.uvahealth.com/concussion

Vim & Vigor - Spring 2021

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