What type of brain injuries are we talking about?  Concussion is the most common form of brain injury.  This may result in disorientation or sometimes loss of consciousness followed by amnesia (forgetting) the events leading up to and including the injury.  Concussions vary in severity and they are often graded mild to moderate and severe depending upon whether one experiences loss of consciousness and amnesia. Other symptoms of nervous system injury may include headache, loss of feeling, and/or ability to control or coordinate movement.  Others may experience disturbance in balance, hypersensitivity to light or sound, difficulty with speech or diminished hearing, taste or sense of smell.  The longer lasting effects of a concussion may cause shortened attention span resulting in one being easily distracted, difficulty understanding information, and/or feeling of disorientation and confusion.  Less commonly, a very serious or even fatal brain injury may occur.  The chances of this are increased in athletes who have had a very recent concussion.  This is sometimes referred to as the Second Impact Syndrome.

  Our 3-1/2 pound brains are protected by the skull, which varies in thickness from 2 mm in some areas to as much as 10 mm in other areas.  This serves as our own natural helmet, which has served our species very well for the last two and a half million years.  But, evolutionary forces have not kept up with the creative activities, sports included, that we have designed to entertain ourselves.  Consequently, the helmet was invented to provide additional protective covering of the head and its contents.  There are several different mechanisms for brain injury in sports and helmets help to dampen the force of direct blows that may result in injury.  Brain injuries may also result from acceleration-deceleration injury, which is when an athlete is moving fast and is abruptly stopped, usually by a collision.  When collision occurs and it is something other than head-on collision, rotational injury may occur.  These types of forces may result in twisting or shearing of brain nerve cells and/or impact of the brain against the inside of the skull resulting in damage to the delicate brain tissue.  Concussions that occur repeatedly, especially during short periods of time, may have accumulative effect sometimes resulting in very serious, permanent, or even fatal brain injury. Multiple concussions may increase the risk for degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s, brain atrophy and Parkinson’s-like conditions.  Having had one concussion increases the risk four to six times of sustaining another concussion.

  Concern over this major public health issue about the readiness of athletes to return to sports has prompted the development of various guidelines.  The Brain Injury Association has reviewed these guidelines and has prepared a palm card to help coaches and athletic trainers manage these sports related brain injuries.  However, when a concussion is suspect, there is no substitute for proper medical evaluation and treatment.  This may be provided through your local emergency center, family physician, and/or consulting neurospecialist.