Concussion Awareness Reduces Long-Term Complications

The pressure to play harder and practice longer brings an increased risk of head injury when it comes to involvement in school sports. Medical, sports and school communities are seriously looking at how to treat concussions caused by a hit to, or shaking of, the head. Falls during equestrian, cheerleading and gymnastics events are producing concussions at an increasing rate, along with obvious contact sports such as football and soccer.

“A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury (or TBI), and it is similar to a stroke in that both affect normal brain function and may have similar symptoms,” explains neurologist Frederick Nahm, MD, PhD, head of the Stroke Center at Greenwich Hospital in Greenwich, Conn. Ignoring immediate symptoms such as confusion, disorientation and sometimes falling unconscious can be dangerous.

“During a game, your adrenaline is going and you’re pumped up, so it’s easy to brush it off,” Nahm continues. “But whether you bump your head during sports, a car accident, a fall or during military activity, it may not be until that night or a few days later that you get a headache or start to feel dizzy or nauseous.” With a head injury, if you feel as if you’re having symptom, you have to tell someone and seek evaluation. For more information, click here to read the full release.