Concussions are most common for athletes that play a collision sport. They occur when a player takes a hard hit and the brain is shaken and can recall hearing or seeing something that did not happen (Cantu 2). They can take place in sports such as boxing, baseball, and hockey and most often in football. In 1950, Robert a student from Cal-Berkeley and a member of Cal’s baseball team, was playing Stanford and it was his turn to bat. At the time batters wore helmets with ear flaps and flimsy liner inside the felt caps. When the pitcher pitched the ball, the ball was too far inside and Robert had no time to react which resulted in him being hit on the side of the helmet with the ball. He was stunned which made him wobble a little bit as he made …show more content…
It never occurred to the doctors that he might have had a concussion. Looking back and based on his symptoms which included not knowing where he was, lightheadedness, and a headache, which meant he had a concussion (Cantu 1). Playing any kind of sport is taking a risk, parents and sports associations need to take precaution when the athlete gets injured by using a concussion grading scale and know how to deal with post-concussion syndrome. “Types of Injuries” explains, “Concussions often go undiagnosed or ignored as headaches, so it is important that caution is used when participating in any competitive sports,” that is why concussions are scored in three categories based on the injury, grade 1, grade 2, and grade 3, so that when this situation happens parents and sports association will know how to react (“Types of Injuries,” par. 11). Grade 1 consists of confusion, brief memory loss, a headache and no loss of consciousness. This type of concussion is seen more in minor car accidents and of course athletics (“Types of Injuries,” par. 2). The symptoms tend to last around 15 to 30 minutes long or in some cases days (“Types of …show more content…
She loved to play volleyball and one day while she was playing a tournament, she was prepared to return the serve and the last thing she remembered was the volleyball ramming her in the back of the head. She was caught off guard but did not cry. She continued to finish the game for her team’s sake but when she got home she was complaining of a headache. Her mother thought that she was developing a strep infection that the children at her school were getting over. The symptoms matched up to a strep infection, but she did not improve. After a few weeks of seeing Rose-Marie with headaches, nausea, and an irrelative short temper, her parents became concerned. The doctors could not find anything wrong with her, so she returned to volleyball for the next 3 months. During the 3 months, Rose-Marie was complaining of fatigue, awful headaches, slow responses and zoning out. After 4 months of not knowing what was wrong with her, she looked it up on the internet and revealed that she had post-concussion syndrome (Cantu, 69-70). Post-concussion syndrome is a concussion that last a strangely long time and patient have unusually harsh symptoms. Rest is the best treatment for PCS. A person with PCS should not do strenuous activities such as sports altogether, until all symptoms are gone. It is tough for them to sleep and some cases the patient will have suicidal thoughts due to their lack of sleep and
A concussion is defined as temporary unconsciousness caused by a blow to the head or a violent shock from a heavy blow. The force transmitted to the head causes the brain to hit the skull, which causes the brain to swell. The symptoms of a concussion can appear immediately after contact or they may subtle and may not appear right away. The symptoms of a concussion can vary in length. There are many different symptoms to a concussion: "Common symptoms after a concussive traumatic brain injury are headache, loss of memory (amnesia) and confusion" (Mayo). Other symptoms that may be involved with a concussion include loss of consciousness, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, slurred speech, and fatigue. There are also symptoms that may not occur immediately, but may be delayed hours or days after. These symptoms include difficulty concentrating, sensitivity to light, and sleep disturbances. An athlete should ...
Each year, U.S emergency departments treat an estimate 173,285 sports and recreation concussions. During the last decade concussions increased by 60%. Fewer than 10% of concussions result in loss of conscious. Most people recover from a single concussion. Multiple concussions take longer to recover from. The concussion Clinic at Nationwide Children’s Hospital utilizes the expertise of pediatric sports medicine, physical medicine, and rehabilitation specialists.
The article titled “Concussions increasingly common on the football field,” was found on the Alabama News website. This article takes a look from the coaches perspective when he finds that four of his players have suffered from concussions on his high school football team. The coach from the Greenville high school football team Josh McLendon, raises concern about football and practicing the sport. He talks about his players injuries and how most of the concussions occur during practice. Even though the team works hard to change practice routines and rules, they are not able to prevent concussions from happening. The article talks about symptoms that players do not notice. Often times a player will feel dizzy and he will just assume he took a hard fall, but players start to get blurry vision, dizziness, and headaches. Before players would hide their injury and play through it, but with the heavy effects concussions have had on retired football players, McLendon urges his team to speak up when they start to feel ill. He hopes that other coaches will learn from him when they stress the seriousness of concussions “Wouldn’t tell the coach, wouldn’t tell a parent, it would just kind of go away. But know since we have made people more aware of it I think they’re coming to the forefront of it a little more,” athletes who do not hear about the severity of something will not stop to think
Researchers and doctors had little information on the proper management and care of someone who sustained a concussion. There were 2,350 participants in this study, with each player being enrolled in any one of the Ivy League schools, University of Virginia, or University of Pittsburgh. Players who experienced a mild head injury during practice or a game were removed from the field to be examined and assessed for “cognitive and psychosocial dysfunction through the use of neuropsychological techniques and self-reported questionnaires up to four times after injury” (Barth, et al., 1989). In order for a player to be diagnosed with a mild head injury, he must have had either a head contact injury or a complete loss of consciousness that lasted under two minutes and displayed some sort of memory and/or attention deficient. The results of Barth’s study showed that there were 195 documented mild head injuries.
That’s where the advancements in concussion detection and treatment comes into play. According to the article “Advancements in Concussion Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment” the writer states “the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 207,830 trips to an emergency room annually between 2001 and 2005 due to sports participation injuries” ( “Advancements in Concussion Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment | The Sport Journal” ). The report from the CDC shows how many reported sports injuries occur in a short period. However, this does not include the vast number of injuries not reported every year. That is a lot of injuries that go unreported and not cared for. We can help make it to where all kids after a concussion report it and get treated by educating them on the dangers they face if they continue to play as they are and tell them they will be right back to playing after the testing has been completed and they are clear to play again. This is not hard to do it’s just the fact of telling the kids the truth of the matter and them knowing the tests aren’t hard and don’t take long to pass. But the kids need to know this is needed if they want to be able to play for years to come in school and even in
The very first step to solving the concussion problem is to train coaches how to spot a concussion. The most common symptoms are: headache, sensitivity to light and/or sound, trouble remembering plays, dizziness, nausea, and balance problems. Players suspected of having a concussion must be removed from the game or practice immediately. A concussion is described as a “mild traumatic brain injury” because it is not usually life threatening if treated properly. That name does not indicate the possible consequences if an athlete returns to play too soon.
How can a concussion be prevented? What is the minimum time an athlete needs to be out of the game after a concussion? What are the chances of an athlete suffering post-traumatic stress disorders after a blow to the head? In all sports athletes are prone to injuries, they can happen at any time and at any given moment. Nevertheless, people that have suffered from a head injury or concussion will also have problems dealing with their learning processes in the long run.
The injury is defined as a concussion when “it causes a change in mental status such as amnesia, disorientation, mental fogginess, confusion, nausea or vomiting, blurred vision or loss of consciousness.” (Mayo Clinic, n.d.)
Concussions occur regularly on the football field and have always been an injury associated with football. They occur at all levels from little league to the NFL. One of the earliest reported concussion...
Concussions can spring from practically anywhere; at home during cleaning, playing catch in the yard, or even slipping and falling. One
Concussions occur time after time throughout different sporting events and many are familiar with the word concussion, but what really is a concussion? A concussion is a head injury that can leave damaging effects on athletes of all sports and ages. Concussions are regularly caused by a hard hit to the head or body that causes the brain to shake inside of the skull. While there is fluid within the skull to protect the brain, when an athlete is hit hard enough, the brain moves to the point of hitting the skull, causing a head injury otherwise known as a concussion (“Concussions”). Terry Adirim, a medical doctor who writes articles for Clinical Pediatrician Emergency Magazine, says that an individual may have many different symptoms after receiving a concussion. Symptoms can include headache, nausea, dizziness, loss of consciousness, and vomiting, but each of these symptoms do not necessarily happen with every concussion. While many athletes are fine after receiving one concussion, it is the second concussion that can be very unfavorable and even deadly. When an athlete receives a second concussion before the first concussion has fully healed, it ...
Through sports or through everyday life, concussions tend to happen. An estimated 300 000 sport-related traumatic brain injuries, predominantly concussions, occur annually in the United States. Sports are second only to motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of traumatic brain injury among people aged 15 to 24 years. (U.S National Library of Medicine). Coaches and parents often do not go through the right procedures or protocols when dealing with a teenager who has received a blow to the head. The usual questions that are asked when there is a head injury are, “what day is it, what’s the score, and how many fingers am I holding up?” Now these are not poor questions, but these questions alone cannot determine if a person has suffered a concussion. The correct method, which they are now implementing in most professional sports leagues, is for anyone with a head injury to take a legitimate concussion test performed by the team doctor. (WebbMD) At present the symptoms can be hit or miss. After receiving a concussion, research shows that an “estimated 80 to 90% of concussions heal spontaneously in the first 7 to 10 days”. (Barton Straus) But, it is important to remember not to return until all symptoms are
Ice hockey is a fast-paced and full contact sport whether you are in a body checking league or not. However with a full contact sports, concussions are unfortunately inevitable. There are numerous factors that play into the number of concussions in ice hockey. Body checking and numerous head impact injuries that occur in hockey are a huge reason for concussions. Although administrators are taking steps towards concussion prevention and education, this education is proving to be ineffective. This paper will take a look at the various injury mechanisms that contribute to concussions and other head-impact injuries in ice hockey, as well as discussing concussion education.
Concussions and the effect they have on people ranging from the young to the old has become a very popular discussion in recent years. Generally people watch sports for entertainment and then there are those who engage in high impact sports from a very young age on. The people at home know how fun playing in a sport is, however they may not know the brutal consequences for some participating in that sport. Injuries to the brain are a main concern among those in the world of high impact sports. Football, soccer, wrestling, lacrosse, and rugby are among sports that athletes receive injuries in. The injuries vary from sprains, to fractures, to torn MCL or ACL, and bruised organs. Concussions are a severe type of injury endured by athletes in the sports world and this life changing injury is one that people are becoming more aware of.
Today, many professional, college and high school athletes throughout our country suffer from a common injury. It is an injury with serious side effects that can permanently change their lives. This injury is a concussion. Concussions are a constant threat in the game of sports. Coaches and athletes were under the assumption that a head injury that didn’t require a trip to the hospital could be ignored. We have been raised in a culture that celebrates hard knocks as a rite of passage, we don’t think twice about the bandages around our heads. (Carroll and Rosner 11). According to the Disease Control and Prevention Center, there are an estimated 1.6 to 3.8 million sports related head injuries in the United States each year. With the increasing number of concussions, the issue is relevant in today’s society. Concussions are a traumatic brain injury. In order to understand this growing issue, we need to become aware of what a concussion is, the testing and treatment that is used and the lifelong effects that concussions can cause. It is important for athletes to know this vital information about concussions in order to keep safe.