When dealing with concussions one must always be aware of how others think and how they feel. Dealing with the severity of a concussion one must know the signs and signals of it before it becomes too severe. Some people believe that when suffering from a concussion that the one who suffers loses consciousness when it happens. That is not entirely accurate. While many people do lose their consciousness when receiving a concussion not everyone goes through that. Some people still are conscious when they receive a concussion. Some may not even feel the effects of it right away as well.
Now a concussion is a minor form of a brain injury that one can encounter in their lifetime. Some of the causes can be any of the following. It could be a strong jolt, a hard bump, or even a solid blow to the head. These can lead to the brain being damage by moving around and twisting inside the head. It creates reactions that alter your physical abilities such as balance, hand eye coordination, etc. Some would say it’s a neural impairment.
There are many possible signs that follow a concussion. Major ones would be memory problems, confusion, feeling drowsy, blurred vision, vomiting, balance problems, and many more. The symptoms don’t always have to begin immediately. When dealing with an injury like this is could take hour, days, or even months before signs start to appear.
Making someone such as an athletic trainer or coach being ever more vigilant when monitoring the activities of their athletes. Not just athletes can receive concussions however. Children, adults, and even babies can have them. It is rare for concussions to cause brain damage unless it continuously happens. We see the most concussions happen in football and rugby since these are such high contact sports.
Diagnosing a concussion and its symptoms are performed very easily. Doctors may use a CT scan or have the patient get an MRI scan. There are some athletic trainers who usually diagnose the concussion using eye exams. They would check for light sensitivity within the eyes, or changes in the pupil size. Coming from the CDC they state that “between 2001 and 2009, an estimated 173,285 people under age 19 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for concussions related to sports and recreation activities.
Other causes include car and bicycle accidents, work-related injuries, falls, and fighting.” The brain has gelatin. The brain is protected from the everyday jolts and bumps we receive every day. For this specific type of brain injury, one must be carefully looked after especially up to the next 24 hours. With an injury like this may well possibly cause bleeding in or around the brain and if not cared for immediately it can become fatal at a life could be lost.
Of course, alternately there are ways to prevent this injury. Some include wearing protective gear when playing sports or even doing certain outdoor activities with friends and family. Buckling your seatbelt when driving will also help your and will include making other safe if a collision ever happens. One could go as far as to making their home safe by making sure the floors always stay clean and adults or children won’t trip over anything and injure themselves.
Finally, regularly exercising will also help due to increasing your balance and the movement of your body. According to the AACAP “Most people with concussions recover quickly and fully but it can take time. For 10 – 20% of people, the signs and symptoms can last for weeks, months or even years. These ongoing symptoms can be confusing and stressful for young people and their families.”
Lastly the evaluations/ emergency care is extremely important if one would like to make a full recover sooner rather than later. When evaluating someone neural health for any irregularities there are a few tests that can be administered to the patient. Many studies found no correlation between men and women except that males usually tend to get their concussions from sport related activities and contact sports however, while females get theirs from sport equipment or the surface they compete and practice on.
The main tests that can be run on a patient ae hand-written tests, computer tests, and neural psychological tests. There is not a better test among the ones listed here. There is also no test that is more accurate than others, it’s just which trained administer decides to evaluate the patient with. Some may choose written tests but are very time consuming. Computer tests on the other hand can work with multiple patients at the same time, so it would depend on the scenario if a professional has many patients at the time or not.
When receiving emergency care for a concussion luckily it isn’t as severe as other cerebral injuries are. It could become fatal yes but only occurs without proper care and watchful eyes. Just like most injuries require when receiving them is rest. The patient must allow rest to their brain. Th trained professional whether it’s a doctor or a athletic trainer will notify the patient that the best thing is resting. Of course, this means staying clear of certain activities that could result in receiving another concussion or making the previous one worst than before.
The professional might even let the patient know they should take a few days off from work or create an easier school load. Even thinking too much could make symptoms like headaches worst. In a article by the Mayo Clinic Staff they stated that “The most important thing to do before your appointment is to avoid activities that cause or increase your symptoms. This includes avoiding sports or other physical activities that increase your heart rate, such as prolonged walking, or require vigorous muscle contractions, such as weightlifting.”
Most people in the world will receive at least one concussion. There are many evaluations and emergency care protocols for it. One must be ever vigilant such as an athletic trainer for example. When dealing with several athletes every year and even daily they must be mindful and watchful of their athletes. Not spotting a severe concussion in time or repeated neural damage can result in a loss of life depending on the severity.
