Have you ever wondered if concussions do increase the risk of other injuries? Well here are some early answers to this discussion.
In the short term recovery period, concussions have been associated with at some short term cognitive impairments affecting:
• Attention 
• Executive function
• Visual spatial skills
This mild degree of cognitive impairment then can make the player more vulnerable to injuries in the first few weeks after injury.
Herman et al found (2013) that athletes who suffered a concussion were 3.7 times more likely to get a muscle or ligament injury within 90 days after the concussion injury. This was found retroactively over a 5 year period evaluating soccer, lacrosse, men’s football and women’s basketball.
Similarly, Nordstrom et al (2014 BJSM) looked at injury rates for an 11 year period in men’s elite European soccer involving 46 teams. They found that concussions were associated with a significantly increased risk of subsequent injury (1.47 times increased risk overall). In addition, breaking down the injury occurrence with respect to time after the concussion injury, they found that in:
• Months 0-3 there was an increased risk of 1.56 times
• 3-6 months (2.78 times risk)
• 6-12 month (4.07 risk)
Interestingly enough more injuries of all types occurred in players in the year prior to their concussion than in those who did not later have a concussion injury. In other words, did a previous injury make the athlete more susceptible to a concussion injury?
Several theories for how the increase risk of injury after a concussion occurs include:
• Altered cognition post concussion leading to a decrease in reaction time and altered the decision making. 
• Decreased fitness levels and increased fatigue post injury due to inactivity post concussion. 
• Decreased muscular strength and flexibility after post concussion inactivity.
• Decreased balance awareness.
• May be more “accident prone”.
• Previous physical injury may affect ability to avoid a later concussion injury.
Thus keys to a proper recovery after a concussion occur include the need to follow the regular return to play protocols stages, proper fitness and conditioning, neurocognitive training, and ensuring that the return to activity occurs when an athlete is truly ready both from a neurocognitive as well as fitness level.
Efan Gonsalves PT 