Concussions Facts

Submitted by the_big_house 500th on

Concussions as we all know are serious sports injuries and can result in brain damage or memory loss if not treated properly. As a hockey player I have seen my fair share of concussions. I had 3 in my 2008 year in high school hockey and believe me I knew when I had one. My first concussion was when I was skating up ice recieving a tape to tape pass up the wing with my head (sadly) down and not up. As soon as I reached the wing I colided with a defensemen and WHACK my helmet went helmet to helmet with his and I litterally flopped my stick to the ice and like instanly fell to ice with my eyes closed. Now I can honestly tell you I do not remember playing that game because the blast to my head was so strong that even my memory was affected. I layed motionless on the ice for a good two minutes before opening my eyes and moving my arms. I titled my head to left vision somewhat blurry and squinted to see two men in blue with latex gloves helping me off with my toe points digging into the ice. I was taken to the locker room and after that I couldn't recall what happended after I got hit. The medics took me to the locker room and saw 3 signs of a concussion.

1. I had a loss of memory. I didn't know what the date was or where I was.

2. My pupils in my eyes were very large very dilated. A deffinet sign of a concussion.

3. I could not make a fist with my hand when I tried to curl it as hard as I could. This is the most important sign because it shows that the nerves of the brain have affected the movement of the tendons and reactions in the arm. This is a result of the concussion's impact on the brain.

4. Thankfully my mouth guard was in my mouth at the time of the collision. A mouth guard is your best friend during a concussion because believe it or not that small piece of rubber takes the majority of the shock from the hit and absorbs it when the player gets hit. Thankfully for me I had it in my mouth when I got smacked.

My other concussion was a head into the boards and my third was a bad fall backwards and a back of the head to the ice. All in all I did recover but concussions are serious and from what I have heard from Tate Forcier's situation it was good that he did not go back into play. You'd be shocked how a concussion can become a contusion which can and in some cases kill you. Here's some advice when playing a sport. When ever you get hit hard or fall hard or get smacked hard to the head and you have a head ache after the impact LEAVE the game and head to the sidelines. A majority of concussions in sports are never fully recognized until after the game. Don't try to be a hero out there be smart and think of the condition of your mind after the hit. If you feel dizzy or dis orientated head to sidelines and let your coach know about how you feel. As the old saying goes better safe than sorry.

mbrummer

October 12th, 2009 at 3:56 PM ^

Also, this may be what happening with Forcier's hand. He coudlnt close it or lost feeling in it. From what your saying a telltale sign of the concussion.

bigmc6000

October 12th, 2009 at 4:04 PM ^

Can someone list the signs for a heart attack because if we keep winning and losing games on the last possession I think my heart might actually quit on me.

As an aside thanks for the commentary/medical info - can't say I knew anything about the fist and glad to know there was a reason they made us wear those mouth guards all the time.

aenima0311

October 12th, 2009 at 5:56 PM ^

It's amazing how little we actually know about brain injuries.

I'm all for playing it cautious. These kids lives are way more important than any game. I'm glad they held Carlos Brown this week for that very reason. I'm honestly shocked and somewhat appauld that Florida let Tebow play.

Njia

October 12th, 2009 at 6:54 PM ^

I have a good friend and colleague who is a rabid Florida fan. All week long, he was insisting that there was no way Tebow would play against LSU. He kept repeating all week, "But this was a brain injury! Meyer's an idiot if he lets Tebow play!"

I had a gut feeling that he'd go. Everyone would have understood if he'd been benched another week. But, his desire to play and win can sometimes trump his own judgment. He was lucky to escape the LSU game with all his mental faculties intact.

Brother Mouzone

October 12th, 2009 at 6:48 PM ^

I wasn't good enough to play Div I, but I have had my share of concussions during three years of football.

I mentioned this in an earlier thread

It is a brain injury.

I like to call them what they are. The term "concussion" almost sanitizes the severity.

I think Tate is the type of kid that would try and "play through" the pain. That can/could have serious consequences. Glad he didn't go back in.

I wonder what impact the numerous head injuries I've had will have as I age.

This can be some sobering shit.

As it has been noted, the research is showing a variety of negative effects in later years.

wamp

October 12th, 2009 at 11:03 PM ^

With all due respect, Big House, you got some bad information.

First of all, dilated pupils indicate the person:
A) Is freaked out about the situation they're in, or
B) Is high on some stimulant, or
C) Both of the above.
In no way does that indicate a concussion. Since I think I can assume that B) was not operative in your case, I think A) is more appropriate. What doctors are looking for when they look at a patient's pupils, is symmetry between the two. When they are not symmetric, it is bad. Like bad enough that they are not wondering if the patient has had a concussion, but whether or not they are in the process of checking out.

Second, I don't know what they are after with the hand thing, but that has nothing at all to do with the diagnosis of a concussion. I promise you the two are unrelated.

The diagnosis is based on a reliable history of trauma, amnesia for the event, confusion, loss of consciousness, loss of coordination, and other *subtle* signs. Not anything to do with the hand. Please do not make any connection between what we saw with Tate's hand and the possible diagnosis of a concussion.

octal9

October 13th, 2009 at 1:56 AM ^

Loss of control of the hand can easily be an adverse effect of the concussion. It depends entirely on where the brain was actually injured - in this hypothetical case, it'd be the precentral gyrus. The hands take up a "large" portion of that location; big_house's motor control loss would easily be a side effect.

However, I do agree - it's exactly that, a side effect. One cannot use loss of motor control to diagnose a concussion.

wamp

October 12th, 2009 at 11:30 PM ^

I am not a neurosurgeon, just a family physician who does a lot of sports medicine, but U of M does traditionally provide a pretty good medical education. EMTs are excellent at stabilizing patients and getting them to the hospital, but when they start talking about things like that, they often are saying too much.

I sure like the rest of your message, though. Most people don't take these injuries seriously enough. I am a little annoyed by the people on the boards saying Tate shouldn't play because it's "just Delaware State". I don't care if we are playing tOSU, he should sit (based on the limited information we have, which could be inaccurate). Even if he just goes in for a couple of series, he could still get blindsided due to a missed assignment or something freaky, and if that happens that can never be taken back. These things take time to stabilize, and there is no game-time decision or evaluation that can tell you whether or not it is safe enough to take the field. If he had the injury, based on the evaluation at the time of the injury, you have to give it the prescribed amount of time. There is no substitute.