It seems like concussions have been everywhere in the news lately. From NFL football to national car commercials to high school sports, properly diagnosing and treating concussions is big news. While everyone seems to agree that concussions should be taken seriously, there doesn’t seem to be much consensus on the best way to assess for concussions or reduce the risk of subsequent concussions in the future.
Researchers from the American Association of Neurosurgeons found that each season, 20 percent of high school football players suffer a concussion. A Canadian study on the concussion rate in junior ice hockey league is perhaps more concerning. Doctors watched 52 hockey games and recorded 21 separate concussions during that period; more alarming were the 29 percent who suffered a subsequent concussion.
It’s that second (or third or fourth) concussion that is the most worrisome and by far the most dangerous. Most professionals agree that the chances of suffering a further concussion are much higher for people with previous concussions. One high school coach explained, “One of the big things we don’t want is called a second impact. They come back with a concussion that doesn’t heal and they have a neurological problem that’s a permanent thing.”
Concussions are not actually caused by direct contact in the form of an impact, but rather by the whiplash resulting from the contact, the brain being bruised as it collided with the skull. Dr. Ned Amendola, a doctor for the University of Iowa football team and a consultant to the NHL Players Association, essentially believes that “the brain needs a period of time to recover from a concussion.”
Pop Warner, the nation’s oldest and largest youth soccer organization, now requires a doctor’s note to release any participant who has suffered a head injury before being allowed back on the field. But what that time frame should be is up for debate. It’s this gray area that causes confusion for schools, parents, and even doctors themselves, says a Louisville accident lawyer. Doctors who do not fully know the history of past concussions due to past misdiagnosis put players and children at risk.
A Louisville personal injury attorney from nearby Kansas City tells of a high school football player who hit his head, was diagnosed with a concussion, was allowed to play the following week after seeing a doctor, and sadly passed away. after once again leaving the game. The doctor had the injured undergo a CT scan, but failed to notice the symptoms of a subdural hematoma, a rare but deadly brain injury that ultimately proved fatal. The attorney handled a similar lawsuit against a hospital in Kentucky.
Without a proper consensus on the best way to accurately identify and assess concussions, parents are placing too much faith in local schools’ approach to concussion treatment, says a Louisville personal injury attorney. Thomas Martin, director of Adult Neuropsychology at the University of Missouri and president of the Missouri Brain Injury Association, says, “I think right now there’s a lot of variation in how coaches, school districts, and administrators They address this and some area schools are much more literature conscious and moving in the right direction, and other areas not so much.”
Therefore, carefully review your school district’s approach to concussions before allowing your child to participate in local contact sports. You could be putting your life in less than capable hands.