A concussion can put your life on hold. But doctors in Pittsburgh say they’ve cracked the code, and it’s care that people from around the world will travel to get.
“I can’t describe the mounds of depression,” concussion patient Liad Charnoff said. “I had so many limitations. I couldn’t leave the house for so long a time.”
That was reality for Charnoff after she suffered a concussion while playing soccer in 2023. She’d recovered quickly from previous concussions, but this one was different.
Charnoff’s symptoms lingered, disrupting every part of her life. Doctors in Israel, where she lives, had few answers.
“I would literally, I would, like, cry in their office,” Charnoff said. “I’m like, please don’t tell me to just rest. Like, I am begging you. There’s something else to do. I’m begging you. And I was also told that I was never going to play soccer again.”
The help she needed was 6,000 miles away, at UPMC, which is considered ground zero for concussion research and treatment. They were already taking the different approach Charnoff was searching for.
Dr. Michael Collins established the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program 25 years ago. Since then, they’ve challenged the standard approach for treatment.
“There’s no dark rooms in our clinics,” said Collins, who serves as program director, “and we’re not turning down lights and taking kids out of school, telling them to lay down during the day. We’re actually prescribing exercise and rehabilitation, and taking a very, kind of, real aggressive, active approach in getting them better.”
Charnoff experienced that first-hand when she traveled to Pittsburgh in August.
“I was getting so dizzy and nauseated from the exercises,” Charnoff said. “They said to me, if you vomit, that’s fine. We have a bucket, keep going. And I was just like, OK, let’s do this.”
The concussion program is celebrating 25 years of innovation. High-profile patients and people from around the world have walked through their doors, often leaving with life-changing results.
“It’s really satisfying to see a patient walk out the door,” said Research Director Dr. Anthony Kontos, “and I have a clinic office, so I see this every day with a good outcome, smile on their face, when previously they would have thought there was nothing they could do for the injury.”
Charnoff is back to doing what she loves, playing soccer and soaking in every moment with her stepdaughter.
“It’s everything. We get to enjoy life genuinely,” Charnoff said. “I love it, and my mood is better, so I’m just a better person to be around as well.”
Collins said, “Our reputation is, you go to Pittsburgh, you get better for the concussion. I’m proud of that.”
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