Concussions and the Effects on Athletes Articles | Gambling

By: Richard Bleuze

Concussions and the Effects on Athletes

Concussions are a common injury seen in athletes, especially in the NFL, who compete in contact and/or collision sports.  Since the NFL season is upon us, I thought that a brief discussion was in order.
 
A concussion is a brain injury in which the brain is “concussed” inside of the skull from either a direct impact (i.e., hit by another player) or a whiplash-type motion in which the brain is concussed through the accelerated motion of the head when the head is snapped forwards and/or backwards.

Concussions are sustained by athletes in many different types of sports including football, soccer, boxing, and baseball.  However, as I mentioned, it is common in football since it has a higher incidence of concussions. 

Determining the classification of a concussion is determined by the length of time that signs and symptoms of a concussion are experienced by the athlete.  The key to classifying the severness of the concussion is to note the number of symptoms that an athlete experiences along with the length of time that the athlete experiences the symptoms on a concussion symptom checklist.

The signs and symptoms of concussion include headaches, fogginess, moodiness,nausea/vomiting, and irritability behavioral.  Below is a list of possible signs and symptoms that an athlete may experience with a concussion:
• Headache
• Dizziness
• Nausea/vomiting
• Delayed verbal/motor response
• Confusion/difficulty concentrating
• Disorientation
• Slurred or incoherent speech
• Incoordination
• Ringing in the ears
• Inability to remember recent or past events
• Loss of consciousness
• Sleep disturbances
• Photophobia (sensitivity to light)
• Sensitivity to loud noises
• Fogginess

Recovery time varies depending on the severity of the injury and the number of concussions that an athlete has had.  A research study done in November, 2002 reported that 40% of athletes recover in one week, 60% in two weeks, 80% in three weeks, and 90% in four weeks.

There are a number of concussion assessment tools currently used in sports medicine to determine if a concussion has occurred.  Including such screening tools as 
Standardized Assessment of Concussion (SAC), Balance Error Scoring System (BESS), Symptom checklist, Computerized balance testing, Immediate Post Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT).

Common causes of concussions are head to head contact, head to body contact, head to ground contact, and ball to head.  Thus, contact sports mostly.  That is why the highest incidence of concussions is football, even though football players wear helmuts!

It has been determined that an athlete diagnosed with a concussion needs to have both physical and cognitive rest until symptoms dissipate and then a carefully monitored symptom free program of graded exertion prior to medical clearance.

With this in mind, it is now recommended that student athletes diagnosed with concussion be kept home from school with instructions of no brain activity including use of computers, video games, and no texting devices.  Cognitive rest is especially important the first 48 hours post injury.

As the athlete’s symptoms begin to dissipate, the athlete can gradually begin increasing their cognitive and physical activities. However, if the symptoms return, the athlete needs to reduce their activity until the symptoms dissipate again.

The risk of an athlete returning before a concussion has completely healed can be a life threatening condition called second impact syndrome.  The second impact results in rapid swelling within the skull increasing the intracranial pressure and compromising the brain stem.  Adding to the devastation of this second impact syndrome is that most cases have occurred in children and adolescent athletes since sports medicine professionals are not on the sideline in most youth sports, the fatality rate is high.

Research done recently has revealed permanent brain damage in the brains of retired NFL football players who had been diagnosed with multiple concussions. This research is the first of its kind to link permanent physiological changes in the brain to multiple concussions.

In addition, research has shown that athletes with recurrent concussions take longer to recover and have more severe symptoms with each successive concussion.  While an initial concussion may have symptoms lasting only one to two days, symptoms of subsequent concussions can last for weeks and even months.

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