Three concussions. Five months. The hardest hit to my life so far was me being hit. The physical pain of headaches, the mental pain of the slower brain processes, and the emotional pain of losing the ability of playing the sport that I love so dearly, have all affected life in many aspects. I was removed from sports, dance, school, and even at times I felt like I was removed from my own body.
When someone receives a concussion his or her brain processes change. In the brain, after the hit, the nervous system suffers from a type of paralysis. The brain itself is allowed to move somewhat freely inside the skull. A hit will cause the brain to bruise slightly where the forehead is and right at the top of the neck. Physical symptoms that result
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I must acknowledge I do not exactly remember. It was during a Field Hockey game where we had no substitutes and the other team was brutal. In total I was collided with three times that game. The first blow was insignificant. The other girl only bumped the side of my head. The second and third time occurred virtually simultaneously. An aggressive girl and I both went for the ball at the same time and rammed my head straight on and she pushed me back then so I clobbered onto the ground, smacking the back of my head on the ground. After the girl was carded for rough play I continued to stay in the game because as I said earlier, we had no substitutes. I continued on the field, very confused, and quite nauseous. After the game I told my coach how I felt. She did not give much attention to the problem because she did not believe I was hit that hard. Going home, I called my father to tell him how I felt. My speech was slurred and my thinking process was not clear. I could not tell him what happened in straight sentences. I had long pauses in between my single thoughts. Getting home that night my parents still pushed me to do my Calculus homework. Looking at the textbook, I was completely lost. Even more lost than normal. I could barely remember what the equations and symbols meant. The next day I went to the doctors and I left with an official diagnosis of a
through the back of my mind, too many to count. The one and only most significant
Concussions aren't fun but tough hope helps. If you always believe it will be okay, it will be. My concussion made. Me realize tough hope really helps. My concussion made me realize tough hope really helps.
Concussions have huge negative effects on the brain. Repeated trauma alters the structure and function of the brain. Researchers have used MRIs to demonstrate that maltreated children have smaller head size and brain volume compared to children with no history of maltreatment (De bellis. Keshavan, Clark, Case, Giedd, Boring et al.,1999; Mulvihill, 2005). Smaller brain sizes may be responsible for lower intelligence or cognitive ability, less impulse or emotional control, motor development delays, diagnosis or mental and psychological disorders and poor socio-emotional and or psychological function (De Bellis; Glaser, 2000). Some the the symptoms that occur after a concussion are according to (Aubry, 2002, pp.6-18) unaware of period, opposition, score of game, confusion, amnesia, loss of consciousness, unaware of time, date, place, headache, dizziness, nausea, unsteadiness/loss of balance, Feeling “dinged” or stunned or “dazed”, “Having my bell rung”, Seeing stars or flashing lights, ringing in the ears, and/or double vision. After a possible concussion any one or
Getting multiple concussions can lead to cognitive impairments, which means that the person may struggle with attention, memory, learning, critical thinking, and reasoning skills (Mental Health Daily). It can also lead to motor decline, which means the person may struggle with their balance, coordination, or movement (Mental Health Daily). They may also suffer problems with communication, meaning the way they talk or process what others are saying (Mental Health Daily). And they can also suffer from Neurodegeneration, which means neurons lose their function or even the death of neurons. Neurodegeneration could lead to a person suffering from a disease like dementia. This is why a person who has suffered from a concussion must fully recover, meaning they have no more symptoms and their brain has healed completely, before they restart any activity that can cause another
Sports-related concussions might just be the biggest worry for any athlete at any level. A concussion is a thing that every athlete battles over time. Everyone knows that injuries are given when it comes to sports. Especially concussions which can put an athlete out for weeks or even forever. Many student-athletes have been a great issue that can easily be resolved from thorough and informative Training. Concussions can prevent or reduced if we are if we go through concussion prevention training in high school, which is usually the starting point for most athletes. Concussion training can help athletes diagnose a concussion, treat a concussion, and to even use proper technique to prevent and minimize sports caused a concussion. Even though every athlete does not experience a concussion many people can benefit from the training that could save a life.
A concussion is a mild head injury which is sustained by a jolt or impact to one's head. “Concussions can be caused by a variety of traumatic events: motor vehicle accidents, penetrating injuries, sports injuries, strikes, and falls”(Schafer, 2014). Side effects of concussions range from clumsiness. slurred speech, nausea or vomiting, headache, balance problems or dizziness, blurred vision, sensitivity to light and noise, sluggishness, ringing in the ears, personality changes, difficulty concentrating and memory loss. A concussion is similar to a bruise on an arm or leg but instead the bruise is on the tissues of the brain. Since people can’t see the damage of the injury to the brain many concussions go undiagnosed or untreated for days weeks or even years. When a concussion goes undiagnosed or untreated it can result in further head trauma: untreated it can lead to blood clots and tumors in the brain, an onset of parkinson’s disease and in worst cases death. However it wasn't until 2011 that the issue of concussions went into the public spotlight.
I never wanted to be on the team in the first place, but it turned out to be a really fun but terrifying experience. Some concussions can make you forget things, and make you feel sick, but I will never forget what happened when I got my first two concussions in a matter of three weeks.
Contrary to popular belief, a concussion is not a bruise to the brain caused by hitting a hard surface. Indeed, no physical swelling or bleeding is usually seen on radiological scans. The injury generally occurs when the head either accelerates rapidly and then is stopped, or is spun rapidly.
There are multiple symptoms associated with the receiving of a concussion, but there are three that are outstandingly common among the general population of victims of concussions. Those include sensory changes and deficits, emotional difficulties like depression, and an overall reduction in cognitive functioning. According to Moore, Broglio, and Hillman, a concussion is defined as “a complex pathophysiological process affecting the brain, induced by traumatic biomechanics forces.” Sport-Related Concussion and Sensory Function in Young Adults Simply stated, this means that a concussion is an injury that results from a traumatic blow to the brain. In recent years, concussions have been a popular topic in the media. Whether it be with regards
A concussion is medically defined by a traumatic injury to the brain. An athlete that has a concussion may experience signs of confusion, may lose consciousness, disorientation, or have a dazed look. Concussions occur due to an impact with the ground or another player. The skull is stopped by the impact, but the brain continues to move inside the skull in a shaking or spinning manner. Medical experts state that, “Violent shaking caused the brain cells to become depolarized and fire all their neurotransmitters at once in an unhealthy cascade, flooding the brain
The most common systems with concussion are headaches, insomnia, anxiety, loss of concentration and sensitivity to noise and light. It can also cause nausea, emotional behavior problems, processing information, slowed speech, and impairment of the body functions. Personality changes can also occur from post-concussion syndrome, from passive to aggressive behavior can effect a person’s well being. Loss of balance and equilibrium and can also cause vertigo (Mayo Clinic page1).
It was half-way through the second quarter in the semifinals, and the Sun Valley Vikings were up by 14. They were on our own 10-yard line, and they were handing it off to one of their biggest and best players, Jack Krump, up the middle. I was in at safety, and I ran up to tackle him at the five-yard line but he came trucking through I just bounced right off of him like a wall. I heard the crowd cheering, so I could tell he scored a touchdown. They kicked the field goal and it was, good. We then ran into formation to receive the kickoff.
Being on my school’s diving team has had its ups and downs but one the biggest setbacks I went through while on the team was my freshman year when I got a concussion. I was doing a simple reverse dive I under rotated enough that when I hit the water, it pushed my head into my knee. I am unsure whether or not I blacked out but all I remembered was climbing out of the pool dizzy and confused. I went to a doctor and found out I had a concussion. Having a concussion was a big setback in itself, but what made it the worst was that the conference meet was coming up in about a week. I had to rest for the remainder of the week and was cleared to practice again the next Monday. Because of the whole situation I felt like quitting all together. I only had three days of practice before the conference meet and had nothing prepared. I did not think it would be possible for me to practice all eleven of my dives that I needed to do at the meet in time. Then I remembered my goal for the season: to earn my varsity letter. I had not achieved my goal yet and the conference meet was my last chance to do so. I was not about to
At the age of fourteen I received four concussions within a six-month time frame that would significantly impact my life. The head injuries would leave me with chronic debilitating symptoms. On top of the physical aspects of my traumatic brain injury I also had to deal with the emotional stress. One of the hardest things through this injury was my separation from sports and other things I loved. I began to seek local medical treatment.
It wasn’t until Dr. McKee and other researchers presented evidence of CTE in football players during a congressional hearing with the U.S. House of Representatives, in 2009, that the NFL changed its approach to addressing these findings. Later that year, during an interview with The New York Times, NFL Spokesman Greg Aiello stated “it’s quite obvious from the medical research that’s been done that concussion can lead to long-term problems.” This was one of the first times the league admitted that concussions and brain injuries had long-term impact on players. Admitting that there was a problem was one of the first steps in overhauling their approach to CTE’s impact on football players. Towards the end of that year, there was a shake up