What to Do If You Think You Have a Sports-Related Concussion

Concussions aren’t just for NFL players. They can happen while playing a weekend sports league or even from a bad slip and fall. Knowing how to recognize a concussion and where to find good treatment can help you avoid the risk of further injury.

Although concussions can occur elsewhere in life (falls, car accidents, and assaults are some of the most common causes), concussions have a special place in sports. Athletes are constantly at risk of falls and collisions in many sports, and it is important to pay attention to recovery so that you are fully recovered by the time you return to the game.

Many people may not even realize they have a concussion, and they don’t always result from an obvious blow to the head. Mild dizziness or headache may seem minor at first, but they can be symptoms of a more serious problem. In several reports, college and high school sports players admitted they had possible concussions in the past season, but did not report them . In more than half of the cases, it was because they didn’t realize that they actually had a concussion, or they didn’t think their injury was serious enough to report it. In one case, college soccer line-ups had 27 unknown possible concussions for each one they talked about .

So, first things first, if you have any of the symptoms described in this post, even mild ones, you should give up any activity that could lead to further injury. A responsible coach will put you on the bench even if it’s the middle of the game, and if not, you should exclude yourself from the game.

To determine if you really have a concussion and what to do about it, you should see a doctor who has experience working with brain injuries. We spoke with neuroscientist Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher to dispel some of the concussion myths and help you figure out what to do if you get one.

Identify signs and symptoms

A concussion is not a simple injury, such as a bruise or a sprain, where a part of the body is torn, broken, or broken. Rather, a concussion begins with an injury – often the brain hits the inside of the skull – and then the brain cells change their function in an attempt to return to normal.

These results can include brain cells that are activated more or less frequently than they should, the inability to reach the brain cells with which they normally communicate, and other subtle changes that are not found on an MRI or computed tomography . Instead, the damage is only visible in the way the brain functions. The exact symptoms vary from person to person, and from injury to injury, they can affect almost any part of the brain. This means that symptoms can range from a slow reaction to difficulty focusing or thinking clearly to nausea and vomiting.

This is why it is so important to watch for concussion symptoms. You may notice them after a blow to the head, another fall or collision that makes your brain spin without touching your head. A concussion can occur as a result of such a strong blow that you are knocked out of action, or it can be a “ringing” that you want to ignore.

If you have experienced a shock, look for symptoms such as:

• Blurry vision
• Confusion of consciousness
• Dizziness
• Headache
• Nausea

It’s also your job if you’re a coach – and it’s a good idea as a friend or teammate – to watch for signs of concussion in others. Even if they don’t recognize any of the above symptoms, you should suspect a concussion if someone has:

• Changes in balance, coordination, or reaction times
• Slow movements or slurred speech
• Blank stare or dazed stare
• Confusion about where they are
• Loss of consciousness (observed in only 10% of cases of concussion).

These are just a few of the features to look out for; This concussion “quick check” card from the American Academy of Neurology provides more information. (It’s also available as an iOS and Android app .)

Understanding what’s going on is important when you are on the sidelines and want to know when you can play again. While there are many apps and checklists to help you find out what happens when a concussion is suspected, including respected tools like the Sports Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT3) , Dr. tell you, as an observer, whether someone has a concussion or not. If someone “passes” a concussion test, they still shouldn’t return to the field. Your job as a coach or teammate is to rule out a 911 head injury and then just help someone realize that they should wait it out. Further evaluation is the doctor’s job.

See your doctor for a recovery plan

A medical clearance is required by law for school-age children , and for adults, it’s just a good idea. Your doctor can also help you figure out if your symptoms are actually caused by a concussion or something else.

There may be other factors involved that they can help with as well. For example, concussion symptoms may worsen in people with ADHD, migraines, or sleep disturbances. Your doctor may also prescribe medications to treat this additional pain, help you sleep, or relieve nausea.

Part of a doctor’s job is to help educate you and make sure you understand what to expect. Now that the public is focusing more on concussions, Dr. Kutcher says he sees more people who are scared or worried about how a concussion will change their lives. But “the vast majority of concussions are not life-changing events,” he says. Most people recover without difficulty.

The ideal physician is a neurologist specializing in athletes, but at least you need someone with up-to-date skills in diagnosing and treating concussions. Unfortunately, not every emergency room doctor or clinic doctor meets these requirements. Dr. Kutcher advises to beware of anyone who gives you a hard-and-fast rule, such as avoiding school or work for a certain number of days, or who insists on complete rest until your symptoms disappear. These are old ideas that are not supported by the current understanding of how a regenerating brain works .

If you haven’t seen a specialist and your symptoms persist for more than a week or so, consider looking for one. If you have a dire case and are fortunate enough to live near one of the few modern concussion centers in the country, you might consider visiting one.

Follow your recovery plan

It takes time to recover from a concussion, usually 7-10 days, but sometimes longer. The details vary from person to person, and the approach your doctor suggests should be personalized for the specific problems you face. While the old advice was to just rest until the symptoms go away, Dr.Kutcher says this is unnecessary and may even be problematic: people can develop depression or sleep problems that look like concussion symptoms. , but in fact they are only a human reaction. being cut off from your normal activities. The current recovery log might look something like this:

1. Acute rest (1-3 days). You are likely to feel the symptoms quite a bit, so it’s easy to follow the tips for relaxation. “Spend time in a dark room, be quiet, relax, sleep as much as you want,” says Dr. Kutcher. (And no, it’s not dangerous to sleep .)
2. Relative rest (6-10 days). You feel a little better and are probably tired of hanging out in a dark room all the time. Doing housework is okay, maybe going to work or school part-time, but take your time.
3. Getting back to normal (3-4 days) is for people trying to get back to serious sports, but less important if you just get back to your daily routine. Under the supervision of a physician, you will perform increasingly complex tasks to make sure your brain is ready to handle the tough mental and physical work of doing full contact sports again.

At this last stage, you may be asked to do light exercise and wait a day to see if your symptoms return. If they don’t, the next step may involve more serious exercises, such as interval training, and more challenging tasks, such as exercises that require dexterity and strategy before you are fully ready to return.

Prevent the next concussion

If you return to the game before the concussion is completely healed, another blow to the head could damage your brain again.

The average weekend athlete doesn’t have to worry about chronic traumatic encephalopathy , the condition around which the movie Concussion was filmed. However, if you are involved in the sport in which they meet, it is a good idea to protect yourself from concussion.

Helmets may not completely prevent concussion , but they do help. Some helmets are designed to cushion your head better than others, and you can look at safety ratings like the Virginia Institute of Technology’s star system that tell you how well a helmet performs in a lab. However, this is not a guarantee of safety because head injuries are complex and laboratory tests do not recreate everything that can happen on the playing field and inside the skull.

(By the way, mouthguards don’t have any evidence that they prevent concussions, although they’re still a good idea for protecting your teeth.)

A single concussion is an injury you can recover from, but if you play a sport that involves a lot of blows to the head, these blows can accumulate over time. If you are involved in this sport – a doctor. Kutcher notes that footballers can receive hundreds of blows to the head each season – a neurological check-up should be part of your yearly checkup.

Bennett Omalu , the doctor portrayed in the movie Concussion , recently argued that selective football is dangerous enough that children should not play it . It’s up to you whether to avoid sports or other risky activities for yourself or generally for your children. If you know you are at risk of getting a concussion, it is best to know when and how to seek help.

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