The Concussion Blog

The football season is in its waning phases, however that does not mean the concussion risk is gone.  Yes, it will be reduced slightly, but awareness is continued and the importance of an athletic trainer is underscored more.  During the winter months we will spend time blogging about the life of an athletic trainer, what I do, and what we can do for schools.

This week’s entry comes on the heel of the Chicago ordinance about concussions.  As we highlighted earlier, the biggest city in Illinois has placed an ordinance for its schools to require removal from game any athlete suspected to have a concussion and once confirmed not be allowed to play until cleared by proper medical staff.

The school I work at has had this procedure in place for just about two years, with even more emphasis on education for parents, athletes, coaches, teachers and administrators.  It was a long road to get this going in a direction that is palatable and the bumps in the road are still present.  The point is that just “waving a magic wand” and creating an ordinance or law that will protect the student-athlete just does not exist.  It is an effort by everyone that has the patience and stomach for erasing a stigma that has been in place since the “dark ages”.

Allison W. Bullock of MedIll wrote about the worries of some players still playing, even with the ordinance in place.  The educational Continue reading →

The football season is in its waning phases, however that does not mean the concussion risk is gone.  Yes, it will be reduced slightly, but awareness is continued and the importance of an athletic trainer is underscored more.  During the winter months we will spend time blogging about the life of an athletic trainer, what I do, and what we can do for schools.

It has been a couple of weeks since the last “Winter Wednesday Edition” and the break, albeit very small, was good indeed.  Santa was good to the family and spending quality time with the wife and kids was awesome.  Now it is back to the grind, and the routine that I seem to enjoy.

School is back in session, and not seeing most of the school for the past few weeks, some lingering injuries popped up that I had to address.  Most of it was simple, an ankle sprain, patellar tendonitis, quad/hamstring strains, but only one major injury to take care of, yup you guessed it, a concussion.  However this one did not happen in sports, but it is related to the winter solstice and “kids-being-kids”.

So last Thursday, the girls basketball coach bought me a player that was not feeling “right” and he had just found out, and even though she was at practice the last few days, she had a headache and ringing in her ears.  She had been at school the entire week and finally she had thought to bring it to someone’s attention.  Before the mechanism of injury, she explained to me that because it didn’t happen at school, she felt she would be OK to not report it.  She also believed, incorrectly, that the symptoms would just pass, Continue reading →

The football season is over in high school and will be completed soon in college and pro’s, however that does not mean the concussion risk is gone.  Yes, it will be reduced slightly, but awareness is continued and the importance of an athletic trainer is underscored more.  During the winter months we will spend time blogging about the life of an athletic trainer, what I do, and what we can do for schools.

Christmas Break, but for whom?

Being a high school athletic trainer there are a lot of people that think that when school is on break we get a break too, um wrong.  The sports are still going, practices are being held and kids continue to get hurt.  Granted the hours at the school are less but the responsibility remains the same and can be more difficult.

When school is not in, the structure of practices changes, coaches want to get in and get out on their time and they deserve that.  Due to this we may not get to every practice during this “break” and injuries occur.  When this happens the communication line between the athletic trainer and the coaches/parents is key.  Getting a phone call about an injury is not uncommon, and having to adjust whatever schedule you have made to accommodate the pressing issue can be difficult.  In a perfect world, regardless of profession, it would be GREAT if everyone else would work around you, but that is not going to happen.

Being flexible is a huge part of athletic training, not only with things like practice schedules, but dealing with coach expectations, doctors, parents and kids alike.  The best trait of an athletic trainer is being able to adapt to any and all situations in regards to injuries and safety.  We do it on a daily basis, with games/practices we have no idea what will be walking through the door next; perhaps a laceration to the arm or a strained calf or dislocated shoulder or a concussion.  Being ready is part of the job, and being ready for the unknown is what makes this job both exhilarating and stressful.  So when I get a call from the wrestling coach that his “star” wrestler has a knee injury Continue reading →

The football season is over in high school and will be completed soon in college and pro’s, however that does not mean the concussion risk is gone.  Yes, it will be reduced slightly, but awareness is continued and the importance of an athletic trainer is underscored more.  During the winter months we will spend time blogging about the life of an athletic trainer, what I do, and what we can do for schools.

New Center

As you may or may not know, I am employed by a hospital as an athletic trainer, and part of my duties include being outsourced to the high school I mention frequently.  The other part of my job is to serve the hospital in whatever fashion they think I can be of help.  Continue reading →

Picture Labeled for Reuse

Last night we had our second girls basketball contest of the winter season and it was a VERY, VERY busy night!!!  First, some back story on my experience with girls basketball as an athletic trainer…

This sport is extremely physical.  In all my years covering girls high school basketball (11), I’ve observed there are more bodies on the floor and bumps and bruises than any other winter sport, wrestling included.  I have no idea why it is like that, but this sport lends itself to a high rate of concussions.  In fact, I had four last year, which equals what we had in football this year.  I also have been dealing with an athlete that sustained a concussion last January, still has symptoms and has yet to return, which is my second such long-term concussion issue in four years.

Back to last night, we (my A.T. student, two high school observers and I) were going through the routine of the JV game when a previously-concussed athlete that had been cleared by a physician (AGAINST MY ADVICE) was warming up for the second half, and a ball hit her head.  Most individuals that get hit in the head by a ball would just get mad and brush it off, but not this one.  She crumpled to the floor, dazed and upset.  We took her to the training room for evaluation, and she would not return (we will get back to her later).

Double Dribble

While my students were observing her in the dark training room, I was back on the floor covering the game, when no more than 5 minutes later a player was dribbling up the court and was tripped and her head bounced off the court.  She grabbed her head and was writhing in pain.  I got to her side and she had tears in her eyes and a dazed look.  After calming her down, she reported just a small headache while sitting on the court, but she was not acting like herself.  We stood her up and like a cornstalk in the wind, she wobbled back and forth.  She was ushered to the dark training room for observation as well.

By this time our resources were strapped.  Good thing I had student observers, as they were put in charge of watching them, (as you could guess, these high school students are well versed in concussions, and working with me they get daily homework about this injury) and if they changed demeanor they would contact me or my college student.  We were not in the training room because of paperwork, finding parents, or covering the game still going on.  Then chaos knocked on the door.

Dads

The phone rang, and it’s from a parent at the junior high just across the parking lot, and he reports a girl on the floor with a head injury (you can see our community is becoming so VERY responsive to this issue).  Continue reading →