By Adam Dunfee /
If in doubt sit it out.
That’s the message of a new video produced by the National Academy of Neuropsychology and the National Athletic Trainers’ Association aimed at teaching kids about concussions.
The 12-minute video, called Concussions in Hockey: Signs, Symptoms and Playing Safe, features Dallas Stars centre Mike Modano, retired NHLers Pat LaFontaine and Eric Lindros – all of whom sustained a concussion at some point in their careers – as well as medical professionals advising any hockey player who suspects they may have a concussion to sit out the rest of their game or practice until they can get checked out.
“It’s really to create an awareness and I hope that kids will watch it and take it seriously. Not only the players themselves but the coaches and the parents,” says athletic trainer Kevin Guskiewicz, chairperson of the Department of Exercise and Sports Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Concussions occur when something jars the brain around the cranial cavity causing the brain to become bruised. But it doesn’t have to be trauma directly to the head to cause a concussion; anything that forces the head to move violently can cause one.
To help explain Guskiewicz compares the head to an egg, with the shell serving as the skull, the egg white the cerebral spinal fluid that protects the brain and the egg yolk being the brain.
If an egg is shaken really fast and then stops the egg yolk bounces against the eggshell.
“The brain is very similar. If you’re running down the field or skating down the ice and your head is moving and the brain is moving along with it then all of a sudden you’re impacted by someone, the head instantaneously stops but yet the brain may still be moving within the cranial cavity so it rebounds off of the undersurface of the cranial cavity and that can create problems.”
The symptoms of a concussion can be broken down into four groups: physical, such as headaches or dizziness; cognitive, such as trouble paying attention; emotional, such as sadness and irritability; and problems sleeping.
If a player has taken a hit and shows any of these symptoms they should not continue playing.
“That’s the biggest thing we’re trying to emphasize in our video,” says Guskiewicz.
“What really is important is not only that they sit it out but they report it to someone like their coach, parent, athletic trainer or physician because they’re dealing with a very vital organ.”
On average concussion symptoms last between three and seven days but after the symptoms have disappeared another three to four days of monitoring are needed to make sure symptoms don’t return.
Knowledge about concussions has come along way, something Lindros refers to in the video. When he started playing sports he says concussions were seen as minor injuries and it was expected that a person could keep playing after sustaining one. Not anymore.
“Kids need to hear that this is very serious. It’s not like trying to continue to play with an ankle sprain or a sore shoulder you’re dealing with your brain,” says Guskiewicz.
The video is available to watch for free online at nanonline.org, nata.org, nhl.com and nhlpa.com. A hard copy of the video is available for $10 at nata.org/brochures. |