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<p>Most likely many have been undiagnosed.</p>
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<p>False. There is now a great deal of peer-reviewed, validated medical literature on concussion. Nonprofessional athletes are at increased risk, and the teenage brain suffers disproportionately compared with the adult brain. The pooh-pooh attitude reflects ignorance on this topic.</p>
<p>We are friends with a child of a very famous retired professional athlete. Our friend’s dad is participating in a research study on long term effects of the “normal” trauma which occurs every time a football player puts himself on the field. The dad never had what was diagnosed as a bad concussion, but played for years at an elite level. They are seeing signs of trouble, but don’t know whether it is related to the sport or some other syndrome. He was due to have CAT scans and MRI as part of the study. Our friend said that they family was all very interested to hear the results of his tests and the interpretations of those exams.</p>
<p>Has anyone here been on a team, or had a kid on a team, where an adult in charge talked to the parents about head injuries and when to call a doctor? I have three kids, in all kinds of sports and activities, school and rec, and have never heard a coach or trainer talk to the parents about the issue.</p>
<p>I fell off a horse while jumping over a fence as a kid during a riding lesson… maybe 8th or 9th grade. Landed on my head, but was wearing a helmet. Didn’t lose consciousness but was completely unaware for a few hours, asking the same questions over and over again, until I felt as if I had woke up from a dream very confused in the ER later with no memory of what had happened… then suddenly I stopped asking the same questions over and over and could remember what I’d just been told, but remember being confused about the date (it was the day after Christmas… had Christmas already happened?) and who the president was at the time (Bush had recently been elected, but I had to think to remember it was no longer Clinton.) I remember everything now up until the moment before the accident… then nothing until the light switched back on in the ER hours later.</p>
<p>I was diagnosed with a small brain bleed, had cat scan and EEG, and was kept overnight for observation. Then was sent home with no follow up. We were told that they’re fairly common in younger people and not horribly dangerous so long as the blood absorbs, which they confirmed it had with a second cat scan before I was discharged. Any doctor I say that to now is shocked and appalled that this was the extent of my care. I was told not to ride again for a week to allow my brain time to fully heal before chancing a second concussion. I couldn’t have ridden anyway because every muscle in my body felt as if they’d been pulled on impact, as if I’d been in a car accident.</p>
<p>After it had been a week, I rode and there was a freak accident involving another horse that threw its rider and then charged up behind mine. I fell again and broke my fall with my face. These two falls within a week of each other were the only falls I ever had in years and years of riding. I was scraped up and banged a knee but since there were no neurological symptoms we’ve always assumed I didn’t get another concussion… but looking back, it’s probably possible. I kept riding but unfortunately developed an intense fear which only ten years later now has begun to abate… so my riding career after that was short lived.</p>
<p>I am not sure if my head has ever quite been the same. I’m okay and have no real neurological symptoms anymore, but the most mild bumps on the head REALLY take me out of commission. I remember feeling as if I had a concussion constantly in the year after the accident. And, unfortunately, I sustained at least another concussion or two roughhousing as a teenager after that.</p>
<p>I hope protective technology improves enough over the years such that girls and boys alike won’t have to abstain from participating in these sports in order to protect themselvse… it doesn’t take much to do damage.</p>
<p>ETA: missypie, when I had my first accident the trainers insisted my parents take me to the hospital. I don’t think there had been any previous discussions on the subject… I think it’s difficult, in my sport serious injuries from falls are relatively rare, and when you have one on your hands it’s usually not hard to figure that out and address it in the moment, be it by calling an ambulance or taking the kid to the ER. My trainer firmly insisted that I be taken to the ER once it had happened.</p>
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<p>The neurologist we spoke to told us that with each subsequent concussion, the brain’s ability to completely heal is compromised. Additionally, it takes less and less trauma to cause a concussion as time goes on.</p>
<p>It’s a scary thing. As someone pointed out upstream, we have only one brain. Having seen serious brain trauma at our county hospital’s trauma ICU when I worked there for a year, I don’t take protecting one’s brain lightly.</p>
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<p>You wouldn’t believe how often I have to have this discussion. A minimum of once per year (state law) and I have this discussion with the athlete and his/her parents after each concussion or suspected concussion episode. I don’t necessarily tell them to go to the doctor after a suspected concussion, but I give them a handout which tells them when they need to seek immediate medical care. </p>
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<p>The first sentence seems to vary with who you talk to. Some say that if you allow it to heal completely, it will. Others will tell you it will never completely heal. I remain unsure at this point. The second sentence I think I would agree with…</p>
<p>D2’s BS (HS) does MUCH more about head injuries than D2’s LAC (see my post earlier in the thread). Not sure if it is the IMPACT protocol, but anyone at this BS who will play a contact sport has to take a cognitive test BEFORE being allowed to play in order to establish a baseline. AND any player who has a head impact injury is sent in for imaging. AND if there is ANY sign of a concussion, either via the images or a new cognitive test, the player is NOT allowed to play for a certain period of time, and must re-test normal before being allowed to play again. The COACHES monitor and enforce this! (Good thing for D2 as this is a BS!)</p>
<p>NONE of D1’s soccer coaches (middle school, select/traveling, ODP, high school, college/also rugby) have EVER offered a word of concern about concussions and head injuries. I am just amazed at how completely varied all this can be from team to team, school/organization to school/organization, and coach to coach… Before college, some players’ parents took matters into their own hands and listened to the medical practitioners re concussions, but the coaches were indifferent. It was hard on the players to stop playing without the confirmation of the coaches… In college, well, few parents are involved any more, so the coaches should be much more pro-active, vigilant, and firm to the players about the risks. And we were amazed at how blase the hopital was to D1 about the risks of two concussion sin a row!</p>
<p>Q: Are there any definitive ways to determine if someone has had a concussion? There seem to be many types of possible symptoms which can vary a lot in intensity.
Q: Ifa person has had a concussion, are there always symptoms?
Q: In terms of imaging, what is the evidence of a concussion/ If the mages shows nothing abnormal, can there still have been a concussion?</p>
<p>I witnessed D2’s first concussion and it was pretty darn scary. She was completely unconscious, no movement at all on the field. When she came to, she was completely disoriented-she didn’t recognize her teammates when asked who they were, she didn’t know where she was, and she had this very strange confused look and bearing. She couldn’t walk steadily; she looked like a drunk person when we tried to walk her to the golf cart. She cried in the car on the way to the hospital, saying her head was about to crack open. In retrospect, we probably should have called an ambulance. At the ER, she gradually began to re-orient, though she had no memory of the incident. Her CAT scan was normal. But clearly, she had a concussion.</p>
<p>The second one was even worse. I don’t even want to “go there” mentally/emotionally. The incident was completely mishandled by her coach/school. We are very lucky she wasn’t more seriously impacted than she was. </p>
<p>D2 wants to play intramural soccer in college. Hopefully, intramurals won’t involve so much aggression.</p>
<p>First off…the disclaimers…we are not a sports family. This was a conscious decision on the part of H and I early on in our parenting lives. We chose to not sign over our free time to sports schedules and had seen too many families be completely externally driven by the schedules imposed by one child’s sports life. Sometimes this was to the detriment of other siblings. I do respect those who chose differently and admire the commitment and dedication of both the athletes and those families that support them</p>
<p>Besides the time commitment, one of my own major hesitations in encouraging participation on teams much beyond the parks and rec level was the increasing level of intensity. It just seems that ‘kids’ sports are all run as if it’s the NFL. Gone are the days of actual ‘seasons’…it’s all year round. It just seemed so clear (to me) that subjecting young and developing bodies to this level of physical stress was not a reasonable thing to do. </p>
<p>And so…I’m going to ask a question…it is not a snark, a judgement or an ‘attitude’…just a question!</p>
<p>Why do we not only allow…but encourage our young people to pursue activities where concussions are par for the course? With more and more evidence indicating long term negative effects of not only concussions but also repetitive tissue trauma, broken bones and skeletal misalignment…is this bordering on abuse?</p>
<p>Large dogs such as St. Bernards and Newfoundlanders are not supposed to walk on concrete or hard ground until their joints are fully developed and solidified. You’re not supposed to put a horse under saddle, much less under a rider, until it’s body structure has matured. In either of these instances, putting too much stress or subjecting the body to trauma at an early age WILL lead to life long problems.</p>
<p>And yet weekly, year round, year after year we encourage still developing human bodies to put themselves into obvious harms way. Not only encourage, but actually revere those that do.</p>
<p>"The Race to Nowhere’ has started a long due discussion on the over the top academic lives now considered necessary and normal …do we need a "Concussion to Nowhere’?</p>
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<p>A concussion is not a structural injury but rather a functional disorder. It therefore does not show up on imaging and unfortunately way too many people including a lot of physicians. I handled approximately 12 suspected concussions this school year and there was only one that I would recommend getting imaging done. </p>
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<p>I would not say this borders on abuse. And I understand where you are coming from and I believe that the concussion itself is a part of life and it’s most certainly something that we can minimize the long-term effects by treating the condition with the respect that it commands. Unfortunately we as a society have not gotten to the point of doing that yet and our youth are suffering because of that. </p>
<p>If you use the logic that many have used including in this thread, I’ve never once had a concussion. With the knowledge that I have now, I know with 100% certainty that’s not true. I’ve had up to 8-10 in my athletic career. </p>
<p>It is one reason I do what I do for a living. I want to work with these student-athletes and treat them correctly when they suffer an injury such as a concussion.</p>