Concussions and How They Affect Athletes, by Ryan Sciascia

Over the last several months, the topic of concussions has been heavily discussed; especially throughout and in relation to the sports world. However, what would one define as a concussion? Dr. Alan Ashare, a member of the Department of Radiology at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, tries to define the word. He says, “Concussion is defined as a complex pathophysiological process affecting the brain, induced by traumatic biomechanical forces (Ashare, 2009, p. 774).” Concussions, although often occurring due to direct shots to the head and/or face, can also occur if the “blow” has an effect on the head. When one suffers a concussion, neurological function of the brain becomes impaired for a brief period of time; but major neuropathological changes are unlikely (Ashare, 2009, p. 774).

While just about anybody can be diagnosed with a concussion, no collection of individuals is more likely to suffer concussions than athletes.  In fact, for an athlete, a concussion is their most common head injury (Moser, 2007, p. 700). Furthermore, as you will read, high school, collegiate, and professional athletes that participate in various sports suffer concussions; and can be greatly affected by them.

In high school, football creates a breeding ground for student concussions. “It has been estimated that, every year, 20% of all high school football players sustain concussions (Gerberich, Boen, Straub, & Maxwell, 1983). In a study of 235 high schools over a 3-year period, concussions accounted for 5.5% of all reported sports related injuries (Powell & Barber-Foss, 1999) Recently, Moser, Schatz, and Jordan (2005) noted that in a sample of 223 high school students who participated in a variety of sports, the prevalence of a reported history of previous or recent concussion was as high as 63% (Moser, 2007, p. 699).” Similarly, ice hockey can be just as dangerous to a male high school athlete. In a conducted survey, it was shown that for every one thousand high school ice hockey players, 3.6 players were to experience a concussion while playing the sport. For female high school athletes, Tae-kwon-do produces the highest concussion rate (8.77) for every one thousand athletes (Tommasone & Valovich McLeod, 2006, 470).

Going on, a more detailed study, using about seven million high school athletes, was done during the 2005-2006 school year regarding concussions. It was found that 8.9 percent (396) of the number of overall injuries to athletes (4431) were concussions. Furthermore, it was found that 34.6 percent (137) of concussions had occurred in practice; while the remainder (259) occurred during live competition. The national average determined the order of sports in accordance to how likely they produce concussions. Football, girls’ soccer, boys’ soccer, and girls’ basketball were the four main sports that provided concussions to high school athletes (Gessel, Fields, Collins, Dick, & Comstock, 2007, p. 496).

On the collegiate side, 5.8 percent (482) of all injuries (8,293) experienced were concussions. Moreover, it was noted that these occur mainly in sports such as football and soccer. Also, collegiate sports maintain a higher rate of concussions than that of high school sports (Gessel, Fields, Collins, Dick, & Comstock, 2007, p. 496). One study looked at how these athletes deal with the effects of concussions. “1631 football players from 15 colleges completed pre-season baseline testing during the 3 year study. Players with concussions (94) and non-injured controls (56) underwent assessment of symptoms, cognitive functioning and postural stability immediately, 3 hours and 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 90 days after injury. Based on group analyses, concussed athletes balance problems resolved within 3–5 days, self-reported post-concussion symptoms gradually resolved by Day 7 and cognitive functioning improved within 5–7 days. Notably, 91% of athletes returned to personal baseline levels of symptom reporting by 7 days (Iverson, Brooks, Collins, & Lovell, 2006, p. 245).”

In the NFL, the statistics don’t always match up when it comes to effects of concussions. A six year study took place that showed 887 concussions were experienced by 650 players. In a test, players with a concussion completed a series of baseline evaluations; and shockingly, despite the fact that these tests took place days after the concussion occurred, little evidence showed that their brains had been affected much by the concussion. Similarly, in the same tests, NFL players that had three prior concussions performed just as well as those with less than three previous concussions. Lastly, “the time taken to return to play was as follows: (1) day of injury = 56.0%, (2) 1–6 days = 35.9%, (3) 7–14 days = 6.5% and (4) more than 14 days = 1.6% [13]. Athletes who returned to play in the same game had fewer and briefer signs and symptoms of concussion and they had no significantly increased risk for a second injury either in the same game or during the season (Iverson, Brooks, Collins, & Lovell, 2006, p. 245).”

On a professional sports level, football isn’t the only sport that concussions are a major part of. On June 24, 2007, professional wrestler Chris Benoit committed double murder suicide when he killed his wife and young son before hanging himself in his basement with gym equipment. On September 5^th, 2007, various neurosurgeons addressed the condition of Benoit’s brain. What they found was an increased amount of tau proteins in his brain; which shows evidence of brain trauma caused by suffering multiple concussions (Cajigal, 2007). “With permission from the Benoit family, neurosurgeons used immunostains to examine tau protein in slices of Benoit's brain. They found neurofibrillary tangles, neuritic threads, and dead neurons throughout the neocortex, basal ganglia, substantia nigra, and brainstem (Cajigal, 2007).”

So the big question becomes: How do we catch concussions and/or prevent them from happening? Once again, Dr. Alan Ashare presents these possibilities:

“1. A proper helmet is likely to decrease the risk for concussion

and/or decrease the severity of a concussion, but

helmets are not designed to prevent concussion (12). In

the United States, these helmets have stickers indicating

testing to a safety standard, such as the American Society

for Testing and Materials (ASTM) or the National

Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment

(NOCSAE). The helmet should fit snugly, not move

easily on the head during the game or practice and be

secured with a chin or neck strap.

2. While further research is necessary, it appears that dehydrated

players stand a heightened risk for a concussion,

and that proper hydration might reduce that risk.

3. Coaches should train players not to use their helmeted

heads as a weapon and to use proper techniques to protect

their heads. Players should not put their heads in

situations that may lead to a concussion. Skating with

your head down is not a good idea.

4. Once concussion is diagnosed, players should be excluded

from exercise and from body contact until all

symptoms have subsided.

5. Psychometric testing appears to be a reliable means of

gauging when it is safe for players to return, and that

return should take place in a graded fashion.

6. It takes longer for young players to recover than older

players.

7. Players do not have to lose consciousness to have sustained

concussion.

8. Players who have lost consciousness do not necessarily

fare worse than those concussed players who did not

lose consciousness (Ashare, 2009, p. 775).”

            In conclusion, concussions are serious injuries that not only occur to professional athletes; but to younger athletes as well. While one concussion may be damaging enough, multiple concussions can seriously affect one’s mental health down the line. There are ways to monitor and/or protect those that you think may have a concussion. The most important thing is to protect your head as much as you can and stay as safe as you possibly can in any activity.

Reference Page

Ashare, Alan. (2009). Returning to Play After Concussion. Acta Paediatrica 98(5), 774-776.
            Cajigal, Stephanie. (2007). Brain Damage May Have Contributed to Former Wrestler's Violent Demise. Neurology Today, 7(18), 1-16.

Gessel, Luke M., Fields, Sarah K., Collins, Christy L., Dick, Randall W., Comstock, R. Dawn. (2007). Concussions Among United States High School and Collegiate Athletes. Journal of Athletic Training, 42(4), 495-503.

Iverson, Grant L., Brooks, Brian L., Collins, Michael W., Lovell, Mark R.. (2006). Tracking Neuropsychological Recovery Following Concussion in Sport. Brain Injury 20(3), 245-252.
            Moser, Rosemarie Scolaro. (2007). The Growing Public Health Concern of Sports Concussion: The New Psychology Practice Frontier. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice 38(6), 699-704.
            Pershelli, Andi. (2007). Memory Strategies to Use With Students Following Traumatic Brain Injury. Physical Disabilities: Education and Related Services, 26(1), 31-46.
            Tommasone, Beth A., Valovich McLeod, Tamara C.. (2006). Contact Sport Concussion Incidence.  Journal of Athletic Training, 41(4), 470-472.