Sports neurology manages neurological injuries and conditions in athletes and active people. The largest part of its work is concussion: diagnosing it, guiding a safe return to play and treating symptoms that persist.
It also covers nerve injuries from sport, exercise-related headache and advice for athletes living with epilepsy, migraine or other neurological conditions.
Conditions this service looks after
- Concussion and persistent post-concussion symptoms
- Repeated head impacts and concern about long-term effects
- Stingers, burners and brachial plexus injuries
- Nerve entrapments such as ulnar neuropathy in cyclists or peroneal palsy in runners
- Exertional headache and migraine in athletes
- Cervical spine and spinal cord injury
- Epilepsy and sports participation
- Heat illness with neurological effects
Tests you may be offered
- Structured concussion assessment: Symptom scales, cognitive screening, balance and eye movement testing, for example SCAT6.
- Vestibular and oculomotor examination: Identifies treatable causes of dizziness and visual strain.
- Computerised or formal neuropsychological testing: Most useful when a pre-season baseline exists.
- MRI brain or cervical spine: For red flags, prolonged symptoms or neck-related signs; routine scans are normal in concussion.
- EMG and nerve conduction: For suspected nerve injury after 3 weeks.
- Graded exercise testing: Finds the heart rate at which symptoms appear, to guide rehabilitation.
Treatments available
- Relative rest followed by graded return: 24 to 48 hours of relative rest, then stepwise return to learning and sport, each stage lasting at least 24 hours.
- Sub-symptom aerobic exercise: Started early, it speeds recovery.
- Vestibular and cervical physiotherapy: For dizziness and neck-related headache.
- Headache, sleep and mood treatment: Targeted at whatever is sustaining the symptoms.
- Nerve injury management: Activity change, splinting, physiotherapy or surgical release.
- Retirement and risk counselling: After multiple concussions or structural findings.
When to ask for a specialist opinion
- Concussion symptoms lasting more than 2 to 4 weeks
- A second concussion in one season, or three or more over a career
- Weakness or numbness in a limb after a collision
- Headache triggered by exertion
- Questions about playing contact sport with a neurological condition
Travelling to Türkiye for this care
A multidisciplinary concussion assessment with a written return-to-play plan takes 1 to 2 days and can be useful for athletes without access to this at home. Fresh head injuries need local assessment and rest, not a flight, and rehabilitation exercises are carried out daily at home. Exertional headache that is new and sudden needs urgent imaging locally first.
Send your reports, scans and a short history and a Clinic-Y coordinator replies within 24 hours with suitable teams and written, all-inclusive proposals side by side. Reviewing your case is free.
الأسئلة المتكررة
When can I return to contact sport?
Only after symptoms have fully resolved at rest and with exertion and the graded steps are complete, typically no sooner than 2 to 3 weeks and longer for adolescents.
Can CTE be diagnosed in a living person?
No. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is currently confirmed only after death. Living athletes are assessed for symptoms and treatable causes.
Do helmets prevent concussion?
They prevent skull fracture and serious bleeding, but reduce concussion risk only slightly.