Concussions are becoming more and more of an issue in today’s society, especially concussions in sport related settings. Concussions have physical and psychological effects. The effects of a concussion can be miniature and they can be life threatening. Anyone with a brain can get a concussion. A generalized definition of a concussion is a force that causes the brain to move creating damage to itself. A concussion does not create visible damage. This makes machine imaging useless, because a machine such as a MRI or CAT scan cannot detect a concussion. Most head injuries are caused by minor or forceful blows. Minor blows can cause bruising on skin but not produce any brain damage or neurological symptoms. More forceful blows can cause bruising, cranial bleeding, or skull bone fracture.
Damage not only comes from direct blows. Acceleration forces that move brain tissue of vibrates brain tissue against itself or the inside of the skull can cause damage. Force of injury can also be compressive, tensile, and shearing. Though there was damage, a head injury is not a concussion until there is neurological damage or impairment.
As there is an increase in reports of concussions, physicians are in an effort to standardize diagnosis of concussions. In 2007, Center for Disease Control reported that more than 135,000 youth, ages 5-18 years, had a head injury, however most youths injuries are not reported due to lack of knowledge and treatment. Educating the public is vital because self-reported symptoms make it easier to recognize and diagnose a concussion. The symptoms of a concussion are both physical and psychological. The most common symptoms include headache, dizziness, confusion, nausea, memory, a mental fog, fatigue, balance issues, attention and concentration difficulties, sleep problems, and nervousness. Damage to sensory brain cells cause sensitivity to light, thus the athlete will squint and say the light bothers him. Pupils will not be responsive due to 2 cranial nerves affected that control the muscles of the eye. A common symptom is a personality or mood change. This is due to damage to the limbic system which regulates emotion.
In severe cases possible symptoms could include non-responsiveness and loss of consciousness. Persisting signs of amnesia, loss of consciousness should all be observed and referred to emergency care if symptoms worsen.. On the positive side, 90% of concussions occur without loss of conciseness.
Because of the variety of symptoms each concussion should be treated individually. However, for all concussion the first thing a person should be instructed to do is rest. Once the symptoms subside a person can return to normal things like watching t.v. and socializing. Another instruction is to avoid medications such as aspirin, Tylenol, Ibuprofen or any pain killer. These medicines have a masking effect of the severity and duration of any symptoms.
The majority of patients appear to recover fully with-in one-month post-injury, but can possibly have lingering problems. Recovery is generalized to 7-10 days. In the right environment the brain cells replenish to normal function but not all get replenished. Stress, cognitive activation, history of concussion can all be factors of slow recovery.
Concussions are becoming more and more famous in the medical world. Due to the consequential psychological and physiological effects of a concussion, more of the public should be educated on just how dangerous concussions are. Educated on what the signs are and how neurological damaging it could be. At the end of the day that’s what anyone with a brain should do. Protect the Brain!
