Concussions are not something to think lesser of than any other physical or mental impairment. After all, concussions can be damaging to the point where they lead to both mental and physical impairments due to the fact that a blow to the head is exactly what controls one’s physical and mental capabilities.
But we live in a competitive world don’t we? Particularly in the United States, competition is something that is sought after, and in many cases rewarded for. In the sports world, competition could be the difference between a scholarship to play college ball, or the difference in that extra million for that next five year contract in the NFL. The serious implications that come with a serious concussion could be detrimental. Yet how do you stop a senior athlete from not going back into the championship game if his or her future is supposedly on the line?
It is hard to know the seriousness of concussions because…
- Each concussion/case is different. If someone breaks their bone, doctors are trained and aware to what needs to be done in order for the broken bone to heal correctly. If someone takes a bump to the head, it is hard pinpoint exactly where the damage occurred, as well as what exactly to do with the damage. Function within the brain is not necessarily localized. The brain has many components that operate and cooperate together to produce behavior. If damage to the brain occurs, it is almost nearly impossible to “fix” the problem at hand, because the problem at hand could be in one of many different locations within the brain.
- How long is long enough? For many who receive a concussion, they are told to wait it out for a certain amount of time. But how long is long enough for a certain individual? Studies have shown that even if they do return to activity, they may see negative consequences many years down the road due to their concussion, or from second impact syndrome, where a second concussion is received to the head before the first concussion had full time to heal.
- Awareness surrounding the issue has only recently become a common topic of interest. As mentioned before, the seriousness, because of the many unknowns surrounding concussions, has only been recently discussed about in terms of the many professional, collegiate and youth athletic programs. More awareness surrounding the topic needs to be made available to parents, coaches, teachers and athletes themselves for everyone to understanding the dangers that can surround receiving a concussion.
- Imaging technologies can be expensive and in some cases, ineffective. It would be impractical for someone to conduct an MRI exam every time someone took a hit or blow to the head. One, that would be very expensive. And two, many of the latest imaging techniques are not very well equipped to understand concussive damage.
I would be curious to know how many athletes would continue playing if they knew their quality of life could be impaired long after the championship game or their short term sports career was over? Yes, I will agree that sports and competition have very valuable lessons to teach kids, but if an injury is going to impact their quality of life in the future, a game is not worth it.
