AWARENESS
WHAT THEY ARE, HOW
THEY HAPPEN, & HOW TO
PROTECT YOURSELF
www.billyjohnsonlaw.com
wondered whether it was serious. Its human nature to check for bleeding
and, usually finding none, we rub the spot that hurts and carry on. But thats
the insidious nature of concussions if there is any bleeding or swelling, its
internal.
TBIs contribute to more than 50,000 deaths in this country every year and
lose consciousness and the degree of disorientation is low. The confusion lasts for only a short time.
Moderate/Grade 2: With a Grade 2 concussion, the degree of disorientation is higher and lasts longer than 15
minutes. It also may involve a persons not being able to recall certain details, such as incurring the injury (post-traumatic
stress amnesia).
Severe/Grade 3: A Grade 3 event causes unconsciousness (usually for only a brief period of time) or amnesia
regarding a larger range of details such as what occurred just before or just after the injury.
COMMON SYMPTOMS
The brain is a complicated organ, controlling the bodys functions and performing an incredible number of tasks. It is hardwired to protect
itself from injury, so oftentimes concussion symptoms might not be noticed for several days or weeks, if it all. Because each persons brain is
unique, no two concussions are the same.
Common emotional
symptoms include:
Common physical
symptoms include:
Anxiety
Headaches
Numbness
Memory
Balance
Irritability
Fatigue
Dizziness
Judgment
Concentration
Depression
Nausea
Loss of smell
Speech
Coordination
Feeling overstimulated.
Blurry vision
Reflexes
Sleep.
Weakness
or taste
Tinnitus
Sensitivity to
light or noise.
VEHICLE ACCIDENTS
On average, there are 5.4 million non-fatal car collisions every year in
Even without a direct hit to the head, a car accident can still jolt the brain enough to result in a
concussion.While few of us think about our high school lessons on Newtons laws of motion, those laws are always at
work, and they are the reason that a sudden deceleration can result in a brain injury.
To simplify the science behind it, just imagine yourself riding in a car. If the car suddenly stops, your body continues to
move forward at the same speed as the speed the car was traveling before it was stopped until some external force
stops it. In the best scenario, you were wearing your seatbelt and that acts to stop your body from hitting the dashboard
or windshield.
But your brain doesnt have its own seatbelt, so it continues at the same speed as the car until it hits the inside of your
skull.
The impact of a traffic accident causes the soft tissue of a drivers or passengers brain to crash back and forth against
the skulls inner wall, causing bruising, bleeding, and tearing of nerve fibers.
about 140,000 high school athletes suffer concussions every year, although
many go unreported.
The CDC reports that among the 38 million youths who participate in
organized sports in the United States, concussion is the most common injury
and has risen 57 percent among children (age 19 or younger).
year. Contrary to many first impressions, it is also a contact sport. Collisions are common ball to
head, player to player, even head to floor.
About 375,000 children and teenagers are treated in hospital emergency rooms each year
for basketball-related injuries, and the proportion related to head trauma is on the rise.
A report in Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics determined that basketball
accounted for more than nine percent of athletic concussions among 8- to 19-year-olds, placing it
second among youth sports, behind only football (22 percent).
Other researchers who examined ER visits for 5- to 19-year-olds found that traumatic brain
injuries associated with playing basketball, predominantly in the form of concussion, had spiked
70 percent between 1997 and 2007.
Todays basketball players are bigger and stronger than they used to be. For
According to the NCAA Injury Surveillance Center, ten percent of all college football players sustain brain injuries,
which is an average of 1,364 per year. The growing awareness that concussions can have serious long-term effects
has led the NCAA Football Rules Committee to adopt harsher penalties for targeting on the field, and every school is
required to have a concussion-management plan. Of course, football is a collision sport, with large bodies forcefully
knocking into one another.
Football is the most popular sport in the nation for high school boys, according to the National Federation of State High
School Associations, with 1.1 million boys playing. All those athletes need to practice their skills, and perhaps because
practices happen more often than games, there are more opportunities to get hurt.
Whatever the reason, high school and college football players are more likely to suffer a concussion during practices
than in a game (58 percent vs. 42 percent). Overall, college students had the highest rate of concussions during games,
with 3.74 per 1,000 games compared to 2.01 for those in high school and 2.38 for youths. High school
students had the highest rates during practices.
The crisis has raised some concerns about the sports future. Though
punish teams that violate the league's game-day concussion protocol. Discipline for violations involve
hefty fines and loss of draft picks. Among other rules, a player who has signs of a concussion on the
field and does not require transport for more serious injury must be removed and evaluated by the
Club medical team. The evaluation must include a sideline and/or locker room exam using the NFL
Sideline Concussion Assessment Tool and must be entered into the players medical record. If a
concussion is diagnosed, same-day return to practice or play is strictly prohibited.
suffer sports injuries, its the elderly that are prone to slips and
falls. The CDC reports that falls were the primary reason that
people age 65 and older visited the emergency room from 2006
to 2010, accounting for almost 82 percent of their TBI-related
visits. And because concussions are often missed or
misdiagnosed, its important to be especially alert if you know
that an older adult has fallen or has a fall-related injury such as a
broken hip. Older people often take anticoagulant medication to
prevent blood clots, which makes them extremely vulnerable to
the effects of a bump or blow to the head. Furthermore,
concussions that happen to seniors usually take more time to
heal.
Of further concern is the increased risk of dementia in those who experience a concussion
at age 65 or older. Some researchers have found that there is about a 26 percent increased
chance that an older adult will get dementia if theyve fallen and had a mild concussion, as
opposed to an injury elsewhere on their body, such as a broken arm or leg. As for those who
suffer more than one traumatic injury to the brain, dementia risk more than doubles.
However, it is not yet known whether concussions actually cause or accelerate degeneration
of the brain.
Once someone has had a concussion, it becomes easier for them to have a second concussion. Every additional
concussion that occurs will increase the chances of a future concussion, and just as age can increase recovery times, so
can a history of concussions. A teenager with a fourth concussion may actually recover more slowly than a 65-year-old
with a first concussion.
Furthermore, people who get repeated head injuries can have permanent brain damage if they try to resume their
normal routine too quickly after a concussion. A second concussion soon after the first does not have to be very strong
for its effects to be permanently disabling or even deadly.
Brain swelling that occurs when a second concussion is sustained before a previous concussion is completely healed is
TREATMENT
If someone is still suffering from concussion-like symptoms and they continue
to be active, they could make their injury even worse. This is why its so critical
that people who experience a concussion not resume normal activities
(especially sports) until they have completely recovered. Rest means avoiding
general physical exertion as well as limiting activities that require thinking and
mental concentration. The best treatment is to allow time for the brain to
heal.
www.billyjohnsonlaw.com