In our last post we talked about the story of a high school girl who suffered two concussions during club soccer play. She suffered the personal injuries as a goalie. The first concussion went undiagnosed but there was no mistake when the freshman girl suffered her second concussion. Lights and noise were problematic for the high school student, and she also had problems communicating with friends. In this post, we will talk about the possible disproportionate risks that concussions present for girls.
According to a recent study published in Pediatrics, girls have a greater likelihood to suffer concussions from playing basketball or soccer than boys. It is not clear why girls suffer concussions that result in an emergency room visit more so than boys. Some believe that girls may be better at admitting injury and others believe that girls' brains may be more vulnerable to concussive injury than boys. What is clear is that over the last few years students who play sports, parents and coaches have realized the risks of concussions.
In the past a person who played through a hard hit to the head was admired for playing through the injury, not anymore. The more concussions a player suffers the greater the risk the person may suffer permanent brain injury. In order to raise awareness, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has launched a program called Heads Up. The program calls for anyone who is suspected of having a concussion to leave the game and see a doctor. The American Academy of Neurology also recommends that any individual suspected of having a concussion should be medically cleared by a doctor before returning to play.
How were the effects of concussions overlooked for so long? The answer lies in how doctors understood the injury. Doctors used to think of concussions as brain bruises, but now doctors recognize that concussions affect how the brain functions. When someone suffers a concussion the person's brain literally slams to a stop and the neurons in the brain all fire at the same time. As a result, the brain's electrical and chemical signal system is thrown off track and thinking clearly becomes problematic. Doctors think that kids should still be kids, but we should seriously treat serious injuries.
Source: NPR, "Parents, Coaches Worry About Concussion Risks," Nancy Shute, 11/29/10