Sports Concussions: Signs And Cons Of Concussions

Sports concussions are not easy to define. The concept of concussion has been around for many centuries. In the 10th century, Rhazes labeled concussion commotio cerebri (a transient abnormal physiologic state without gross brain lesions.) In the early 16th century, Da Carpi expanded the idea of cerebrum commotum (commotion resulted from the thrust of the soft brain against the hard skull.) In the 17th century, Marchetti started using the word concussion (Snedden 2013). The unclear definition of concussion causes misdiagnoses of athletes. There are many definitions of concussion such as; a hard blow or collision; a violent shaking or jarring; a jarring of the brain, caused by a blow or a fall, usually resulting in the loss of consciousness.

Confusion on the definition of a concussion can affect athletes, coaches and trainers when it comes to diagnosing a concussion. The knowledge to know the signs and symptoms of a concussion can reduce the short, medium, and long-term consequences of them. Signs of a concussion could be an inability to focus, vomiting, nausea, dizziness, and slurred speech. Concussions have been around for many years. More and more research is being conduction on concussions as the years pass for a better understanding. As a better understanding of concussion is being researched, sports teams should force and make better rules when it comes to hitting players. Athletes that has had a concussion can suffer from short-term symptoms like verbal delay or long-term symptoms like a disability. Helmets are being improved constantly, but the reduction of concussions is not decreasing. Reduction of concussion starts with the player reporting his injury. After reporting the injury, the proper steps can be taken to get rid of symptoms and prevent the likeliness of the injury from happening again. To prevent to the likeliness of the injury to reoccur the athlete must take time away from the sport and spend a certain amount of time recovery. Before returning back to play, the athlete must be check for readiness. Readiness can be checked by testing the athlete’s behavior and abilities. Sports come with pros and cons. The pros can be working with others to complete the same objective while having fun. The con can be simply suffering from a concussion. So an athlete has to be willing and well educated on the sport he or she wants to play before committing to a certain