It's hard to imagine a time when we didn't know how dangerous a blow to the head can be.  But it was just 20 years ago when Ethan O'Brian was playing youth hockey and started getting banged into the boards and ice and other players.  He kept playing.  No one told him to stop as they might have today.  There was little talk of concussion. 

It's not just hockey and American football or rugby where kids get hit hard and enough times to cause damage to their brains - for boys and girls alike.  Thanks, sadly, to the NFL and military, stories about brain injury and CTE have been common over the last few years. Research is being done and parents and schools are waking up to the risks kids face.

Unfortunately, that didn't exist for Ethan.  He had to learn how to help himself on his own.  He's an over-achiever - the kind of kid you wanted to hate but couldn't because he was so damn nice.  But as he suffered more and more concussions, he withdrew,  became a bit solitary.  While he was in university, he found it was hard to concentrate and study.  He knew there had to be a solution.  So along with his studies, he researched strategies that could help his brain and overall health to improve his performance.  It worked though diet, activity pacing, limiting sensory input and more he tells us about.

Ethan's  journey was always going to be one of success.  He's just built that way.  Now he helps others with similar health issues find pathways to better health and he and Dr. Blaskovich have written a book called Dr. B's Concussion Breakthrough available on Amazon.  Ethan has wonderful, first hand advice for parents and kids who face concussion recovery.  
 
A Note On The Life Over Pain Theme Music:Emily Bielagus graciously and generously composed the lovely theme music for the Life Over Pain podcast. Find her music at Spotify, wildyawp.com, and reach her at wildyawpband@gmail.com.

Thank you to RØDE Microphones for donating the NT-USB microphone that was used to record  this story. You can check it out on their website at http://www.rode.com/microphones/nt-usb.