Tag Archives: Concussion

Quick Hits on a Cold Thursday

31 Jan

American Medical Society of  Sports Medicine Position Statement…

I had seen this but caught it again in a below article, the AMSSM released its position statement on concussions recently.  Most of those involved in writing this were in Zurich last November and this comes out about two months before the consensus statement is released in the British Journal of Medicine.  (pssssst – it is also going to have a release in Australia, in conjunction with the AFL Concussion Conference and first round of games and I am still looking for a sponsor)

I found one piece of this position statement very encouraging and made me smile for all the hard work others have done;

Return to Class

* Students will require cognitive rest and may require academic accommodations such as reduced workload and extended time for tests while recovering from concussion.

The rest of the statement is not really “Earth shattering” but there are interesting points in there;

* In sports with similar playing rules, the reported incidence of concussion is higher in females than males.

* Certain sports, positions, and individual playing styles have a greater risk of concussion.

* Youth athletes may have a more prolonged recovery and are more susceptible to a concussion accompanied by a catastrophic injury.

* Balance disturbance is a specific indicator of concussion but is not very sensitive. Balance testing on the sideline may be substantially different than baseline tests because of differences in shoe/cleat type or surface, use of ankle tape or braces, or the presence of other lower extremity injury.

* Most concussions can be managed appropriately without the use of neuropsychological testing.

* There is increasing concern that head impact exposure and recurrent concussions contribute to long-term neurological sequelae.

* Some studies have suggested an association between prior concussions and chronic cognitive dysfunction. Large-scale, epidemiological studies are needed to more clearly define risk factors and causation of any long-term neurological impairment.

* Primary prevention of some injuries may be possible with modification and enforcement of the rules and fair play.

* Helmets, both hard (football, lacrosse, and hockey), and soft (soccer, rugby), are best suited to prevent impact injuries (fracture, bleeding, laceration, etc) but have not been shown to reduce the incidence and severity of concussions.

* There is no current evidence that mouth guards can reduce the severity of or prevent concussions.

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X-Games, D on coverage…

Anyone catch the X-Games this past weekend?  Action sports are on the rise and the X-Games Continue reading →

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Sports discourse in the aftermath of Junior Seau’s suicide

13 Jan

Screen shot 2013-01-13 at 6.32.33 PMI remember the anguish that punctured my thoughts when Junior Seau, a star in his own right on the gridiron, placed a handgun to his chest and took his own life eight months ago at his California home. Sitting in my room, I sunk into my chair and spoke no words for more than an hour while giving all I could to refrain from shedding any tears. His death struck me in an unforgettable way that positioned myself, once again, at a crossroads with football and its place in our culture infatuated with the image of the modern-day gladiator.

On May 3, 2012, the day after Seau’s suicide, I scrambled for answers with the shadows of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) looking over my back. I ran a number of searches in Google’s archives for newspaper articles from the 1990s to find some sort of explanation for his actions, but rarely was Seau’s name mentioned directly in relation to a head injury. Although my efforts were rather premature and assuming, there had to be some sort of correlation between Seau’s noted altercations behind closed doors with the thousands of hits his brain endured over the course of a 19-year professional career.

There are, of course, many different storylines that people turn to to explain something so tragic immediately after its occurrence, but confirmation of my original hypothesis (shared by many, I’m sure) by the National Institute of Health several days ago left me in an inexplicable state of unsettled anxiety. Though I inferred Seau would be diagnosed postmortem with CTE, my response to the official announcement was still along the lines of, “Unbelievable.” Continue reading →

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Pronger out for season with concussion, but Crosby still considered the ‘pussy’

16 Dec

Former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell was once quoted in describing what he termed to be the “wussification of America.”  If we look at this “wussification” in the spectrum of hockey’s concussion debate within the keystone state (the commonwealth of Pennsylvania), may we draw conclusions on differences between the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins?  This is, of course, a heated in-state rivalry, and both teams understand the effects that concussions can have on even the brightest of players.  In the past, the Flyers have seen the woes of the likes of Eric Lindros and Keith Primeau.  The Penguins have seen their young star in Sidney Crosby miss much of last season on top of additional games missed this season.

Yesterday, ESPN published a report stating that one of the Flyers’ best players, Chris Pronger, would be out for the remainder of the season due to post-concussion syndrome.  Pronger has not seen the ice since November 19th.

And for quite some time now we have all heard the news of Sidney Crosby’s recurring symptoms.  His career now may be in question.

But with regards to this “wussification,” as we may bend its direction toward the hockey organizations in Pennsylvania, there are some clear polarities between both fan bases between the Flyers and Penguins.  This is coming from the observations of an outside-observing indifferent viewer of the sport who is from Philadelphia and attends college in Pittsburgh—me. Continue reading →

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Who signed up for this?

3 Dec

The widespread understanding of the concussion injury can be defined as scattered, for many may adhere to the simplest definitions of the neurological phenomenon while others may delve more thoroughly into all that the event entails.  There are those who would rather set aside definition and reject any potential complications as something that may interfere with their daily objectives, and there are those who care to recognize the injury as a neurometabolic cascade of chemical imbalance—an attempt by the brain to self-repair after the moment of cell damage in order to restore a more stable sense of homeostasis.  I’m not sure how we can exactly describe the state of the sports environment as it relates to the understanding or attempt to understand the concussion injury, but I do believe that there is a message that needs to be sent and it needs to be sent loud and clear.  Yes, there are questions to be raised regarding the specificity and legitimacy of claims being placed upon terms such as post-concussion syndrome, second-impact syndrome, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, but that does not mean there is an absence of truth in these trauma-related conditions.  Many of us can understand athletes’ points of view regarding this matter, for you can’t go out on the field and perform with fear haunting your thoughts and be quite as effective, but we all need to be better educated on what a concussion really is.  By this, I am not talking about a neuroscientific breakdown of the processes that develop during the brain’s recovery.  I am talking about listening to the people who have felt the debilitating and, often times, life-altering effects of the concussion injury.  I am talking about allowing those who have been impaired or have had even the slightest of alterations in cognitive ability to have a platform on which they can project their voices—their stories.

Efforts toward a more agreed upon and stable set of terms regarding concussion management protocol are by no means an attempt to overanalyze the injury itself.  These efforts are not, in my opinion, indicative of overanalyzed nature because the risks are essentially laid out for us in the examples of real people struggling with real lives who have been in the shoes of the athletes who are complaining about what’s going on in professional, collegiate, and high school and youth sports.  I cannot find any reason to reject such protocol because of the reality of the injury—meaning its capacity to act as a temporarily parasitic collection of damaged cells, where all it would take is one hit to end one’s season, one’s career, or one’s life.  Even with that in mind, there is enough accessible information out there that can interest us in understanding the cumulative effects of the concussion injury, where the compilation of multiple traumatic events could come to haunt one’s life beyond the game in which they play.  Everyone is entitled to an opinion, and in fact, I have many of my own that aren’t necessarily considered as approving of certain decisions made regarding this subject, but it is hard to sound reasonable in any manner when one is openly criticizing the concussion injury as an insignificant event that athletes might as well have ‘signed up for anyway.’ Continue reading →

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Griffin Takes a Scary Hit: What Happened to Tackling?

29 Nov

In this week’s college football match-up between Baylor and Texas Tech, Heisman hopeful Robert Griffin III (Baylor’s quarterback), took a scary blow to the head from a Red Raider defensive player after making an attempt to give himself up on a slide.  Following the immediate impact from the hit, Griffin’s body froze and continue to slide while remaining flat and motionless for several seconds, before coming ‘to’ and removing his helmet after sustaining a concussion.

This incident tells us a lot about the state of the game of football, even so at the college level.  For one, there is a display of pure athleticism on Griffin’s part to move elusively throughout the pocket and toward the first-down marker in an attempt to maintain momentum on his team’s offensive drive.  In addition to that, on a more so darker note, we see the crumbling technique of the tackle—something that I have and will continue to be quite critical of. Continue reading →

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2011 NCAA Football Reported-Concussion Study: Week 11

15 Nov

The Concussion Blog Original, 2011 NCAA Football Reported-Concussion Study, is a weekly compilation of reported head injuries in Division-I college football.  Concussions are added to the list each week from multiple sources to give you, the reader, a picture of what is happening on the field.  Each week we will bring you the information along with relevant statistics.  This study recognizes that the NCAA has no mandated requirements in reporting injuries, but hopes to shed light on an issue that hasn’t received the kind of critical recognition to that of the National Football League’s.  We encourage reader involvement in contributing to this comprehensive online study.  We will be using Fink’s rule to classify a concussion/head injury.

As we all very well know, college athletics are a beloved element in our national sports culture- controversy aside.  With understanding this country-wide phenomena in the adoration of college football, specifically, we recognize this love, and sit back in our own respective comfort zones of viewing games with our friends and families cheering on our favorite programs and alma mater institutions.  College football is a significant part of our exposure to sports, but for the sake of specificity as it relates to the regards of our blog, college football has not necessarily been given much attention in consideration of the sports concussion crisis.  The purpose of this study is largely to bring forth such attention, and to generate critical questions of the standards in place as football as a whole, without secluding the focus to only that of the professional levels.  This is a hard task, mainly because of the abundance of programs at the Division-I level, but also due to the fact that the NCAA has no requirements placed on coaching staffs to report injuries sustained by players during play. Continue reading →

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2011 NCAA Football Reported-Concussion Study: Week 10

10 Nov

The Concussion Blog Original, 2011 NCAA Football Reported-Concussion Study, is a weekly compilation of reported head injuries in Division-I college football.  Concussions are added to the list each week from multiple sources to give you, the reader, a picture of what is happening on the field.  Each week we will bring you the information along with relevant statistics.  This study recognizes that the NCAA has no mandated requirements in reporting injuries, but hopes to shed light on an issue that hasn’t received the kind of critical recognition to that of the National Football League’s.  We encourage reader involvement in contributing to this comprehensive online study.  We will be using Fink’s rule to classify a concussion/head injury.

As we all very well know, college athletics are a beloved element in our national sports culture- controversy aside.  With understanding this country-wide phenomena in the adoration of college football, specifically, we recognize this love, and sit back in our own respective comfort zones of viewing games with our friends and families cheering on our favorite programs and alma mater institutions.  College football is a significant part of our exposure to sports, but for the sake of specificity as it relates to the regards of our blog, college football has not necessarily been given much attention in consideration of the sports concussion crisis.  The purpose of this study is largely to bring forth such attention, and to generate critical questions of the standards in place as football as a whole, without secluding the focus to only that of the professional levels.  This is a hard task, mainly because of the abundance of programs at the Division-I level, but also due to the fact that the NCAA has no requirements placed on coaching staffs to report injuries sustained by players during play. Continue reading →

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Sunday Recap

7 Nov

As Football Sunday played out yesterday there was more attention on the head injury issue; naturally because the NFL set in motion – if only through reinforcement – a system to get players off the field in cases of overt signs.  The concern for head injury actually began two plays in, in New Orleans.

Tracy Porter collided with receiver Mike Williams and was obviously stunned and unsteady.  Porter took a knee for a brief second before he crumpled to the ground where he was attended to; spine board and med evac later Porter was released from an area hospital (BTW they are listing this as a “neck” injury).

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Not long after that, Dustin Keller of the Jets jumped in the air and landed on his back/head.  The officials did a good job of summonsing the med staff to Keller.  Keller was subsequently removed evaluated on the sideline and locker room, where it was determined that he did not suffer a concussion.  In an extremely rare occurrence, the Jets medical staff answered questions Continue reading →

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Briggs: PA Senate Passes “Safety In Youth Sports Act”

1 Nov

This afternoon I received an email from Pennsylvania State Representative Tim Briggs notifying me of Senate Bill 200′s passing.  All that awaits is the signature of the governor, and from there, we will see progress in adjusting the culture of high school athletics to more properly address the concussion issue.  With this bill’s implementation, my home state of Pennsylvania will see a mechanism of change for the better, and hopefully no other Pennsylvania athlete will have to go through the physical and cognitive struggles that troubled me for nearly a year and a half.  Below is the email that I received:

Dear friends,

Just a quick note to let you know that the Senate voted just now to concur on SB200 and will be sending it to the Governor.  I wanted to thank everyone for helping Sen. Browne and I in our effort to get the Safety in Youth Sports Act passed.  This legislation has come a long way from when we first started working on it in the summer of 2009, and I am confident that because of your support and input that we were able to pass a very good bill. Continue reading →

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NCAA Reported-Concussion Study: Entering Week 6

4 Oct

For quite some time now we have been compiling data regarding reported concussions in Division-I NCAA college football, taking note of rates of reported injury as well as the implications that such injuries have placed upon the players themselves.  As before mentioned in a post covering the absence of requirement in NCAA teams reporting injuries, we understand that this study will not be that of an exact science, but it should and will point to several issues on this subject.  The questions that we may raise from this study include inquiry on the prevalence of concussions in this level of football, how the injury is distributed amongst different age groups, how teams may or may not find purpose in not reporting concussions alongside other common injuries, how repetitive injury may impact one’s playing career, and most importantly- should the NCAA be required to report injuries?

Right now, such questions are left to debate and statistical evaluation.  Reporting concussions is analogous to reporting weakness in this level of play, and much so applies to all aspects of contact sports today.  What we have gathered through numerous resources made available online (and for that matter, it has been quite a challenge to track down concussions in the NCAA via Internet) is more so a statement to be made to the general public, for media fatigue and a lack of specialization to compartmentalize this injury aside from others has yet to be available to us.  This study intends on bringing more focus on concussions in college football, and hopefully may lead to more research-based and awareness-provoking paths.

As we enter Week 6 of the 2011-2012 NCAA college football season, here are the numbers to what we are looking at in relation to the incidents of concussions in Division-I programs… Continue reading →

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Thinking Critically: 2011 NCAA Reported-Concussion Study

24 Sep

When we think about concussions in football, we typically associate the injury with instances reported in youth or high school programs, relating to second-impact syndrome and the lingering effects post-concussion syndrome can hold upon a student athlete, or we consider the implications of the term ‘concussion’ as it relates to professional football—the leading candidate of media exposure with regards to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, lawsuits, and the root behind penalties and fines.  These are hierarchical extremities of the American football family, where we are presented accounts of the effects of traumatic brain injury in our children, or in our idols.  One question remains however, and it is one that has rarely been touched upon by the general sports coverage media—what about college football?  Where does the issue stand in that level of play?

We have seen efforts from some college football programs in taking on the issue at hand, more specifically referencing the allegiance of the Ivy League, where in this past year they instituted a decrease in mandatory full-contact practices—an effort to limit player exposure to head trauma and the potential risks of repetitive head trauma, a decision that can link itself back to Chris Nowinski’s proposal of ‘hit counts.’  But we haven’t seen many efforts of collegiate teams to address this issue, though a handful of coaches have openly given positive feedback to the awareness that has been brought about lately.  College football dominates our weekly routines browsing television, as hundreds of teams square up to compete on the national stage, and upon that stage, it is inevitable to understand that concussions are occurring—it is inevitable to understand that many concussions aren’t being reported, either, by the coaching staffs to the media, or by the players to the coaches.

There is no reason to make it seem that the NCAA is infected by coaches withholding “Mike Leach” complexes, but there is reason to believe that there is a need for issue exposure at this level of the game. Continue reading →

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Concussion Management: Change is Happening!

21 Sep

I have noticed a major change in how we have been able to manage concussions at my school since this new legislation. When it initially came out the school personnel, athletes, and parents were reluctant and upset with the new requirements. I, on the other hand, was ecstatic because it put the athletic trainers in the forefront and helped bring to light the issue of concussions along with the issue of the lack of athletic trainers in secondary schools.

I am solely responsible for concussion management at the school that I am contracted with. In August, I spoke numerous times at parents’ meetings, with the athletes, and with the coaching staff. I spoke at length with the school nurse. All of them received information from the Illinois High School Association and CDC regarding concussions. The coaches, administrators, and school nurse were also provided with the return to play protocols.

It is important that we as athletic trainers take control of concussion management. Most others are not educated to do so nor Continue reading →

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Span’s Struggles

7 Sep

Denard Span, center fielder for the Minnesota Twins, returned to the clubhouse earlier this week after spending some limited time at his home in Florida to cope with migraine-like symptoms stemming back to a concussion he received earlier in the baseball season.  Span has been hopeful in making several instances of return, only to be touched again by the building-up of symptoms that generated enough discomfort to sideline him again.  It has, too, been but a frustrating course of events for Span, much like that of his teammate Justin Morneau’s struggles with post-concussion syndrome during the 2010 regular season and 2011 spring training schedule.

His teammates have seen a difference in his play during his post-injury attempts at return, and his numbers would suggest just that.  Before his concussion in June, Span was batting a solid .294 at the lead-off spot with an on-base percentage of .361.  During his hopeful confirmation of recovery in August, Span went 2-35 (.057) in nine games played, only to be shutdown by prolonged symptoms as a result.  Fox Sports North recently published a compelling article on Span’s time dealing with post-concussion related symptoms, which includes interviews of both Span and his teammates.

Regarding his absence from the team when he was sent to his home in Flordia, Span touched upon one of the most common psychological reactions to the concussion injury, whereas the feelings of hopelessness and frustration would take over one’s mind to the point where their own worth at that point and place in time was self-questioned. Continue reading →

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Crosby to Speak Out Today

7 Sep

Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby is planned to speak to the media this afternoon, at 12:30PM ET, of his progress regarding his post-concussive condition which has put a halt to the current moment of his shining career.  Today will mark the first time since the previous NHL season where Crosby will publicly describe the extent of his injury, as he has clearly been heavily scrutinized and shamed due to the extensive time he has lost and failed to provide to the growing spectrum of hockey.  Whom many may consider the face of professional hockey, Crosby stands hopeful for a promising return but still remains unsure of his medical future.

Specialists in Georgia and Michigan have been monitoring the course of Crosby’s recovery for several months now, and until recently they found him to be at what was considered to be a 90% recovery, though headaches would gradually return only to provide that cloud of doubt around him and his closest friends and family.  The complications of the concussion injury are at most difficult and different in every case, and by matter of it happening to the Penguins’ prodigy, the hockey audience now presents itself with a real-time situation that clarifies the implications of mild traumatic brain injury, as well as displaying the vulnerability of the most valued players in the league. Continue reading →

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The Anatomy of the Illegal Hit

19 Aug

In last week’s preseason game between the Detroit Lions and Cincinnati Bengals, defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh acted in a way that opened the doors yet again to the debate regarding illegal hits in the National Football League.  A conversation that was fueled by contrasting opinions sparked uproar in the football community, in relation to the professional establishments themselves as well as the game’s followers, revived itself at the sight of Suh’s withholding of Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton’s head in his chest, and tearing him to the ground as the quarterback’s helmet snapped off of his body.  Where most defensive players would say they witnessed a play that should be applauded for its fearsome nature, others may say that Suh’s pursuit and finishing of Dalton would be clear and deserving of punishment.  From my own perspective, I viewed an act that steps too close for comfort upon the line of an active play being before a defender’s eyes, or rather behind the defender’s ears.  No matter what perspective you take on the situation that occurred in the preseason match-up between the Lions and Bengals, it is clear the National Football League had to take action, and did so by fining Suh twenty-thousand dollars, which has since been appealed.

How much blame can one put on the aggressiveness displayed by Suh?  We all very well know that this is going to be, and quite so is, a matter of one being the product of the environment he was raised within and continues to dwell within.  Since the beginning of Suh’s football career, there is no doubt that such violence was encouraged and applauded by his peers and mentors, as the ones who catered to his very needs as a developing football star were themselves accustomed to such play.  Sure, this will be Suh’s third go-around with a fine delivered by the National Football League, but as a former football player myself, and as one who has been surrounded by football fanatics my entire life, I know that such athletes function upon short memories.  This style of play that Suh has displayed, more specifically in his man-handling of the likes of Andy Dalton, Jay Cutler, and Jake Delhomme in the past two years, will continue to be engraved within the defensive tackle’s arsenal.  Of course he’s outraged at the fine, but I do also believe that with everything you align yourself within, there will be restrictions, and in our adjusted sense of awareness in regards to the medical evidence of today, football needs to adapt to the day, rather than continue the promotion of the game of the past.  As much as we want to hold on to it, there will inevitably be increased rates of fines and suspensions. Continue reading →

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Lockout is over, but the real issue?

26 Jul

The country sits relieved, and welcomes the long-awaited announcement of the approved collective bargaining agreement that brought us back to the daily interactions of the National Football League.  We immediately reminded ourselves of the barbeques on Sunday afternoons to come, the beers cooled for the acquaintances to come over and watch our favorite teams compete, the ESPN updates ahead of us that may mark the thrilling transactions as beneficial or malignant to the functioning of our beloved allegiances, and last, but not least, we reminded ourselves of the tremendous, uplifting sensation that we as fans, and former players, get from watching professional athletes perform in a way that provides unique brilliance to our prized possession—football.

This lockout, in some ways, has clouded the issues that have been brought to the immediate forefront of the headlines regarding the National Football League—most specifically, the sports concussion issue.  During the lockout, we have seen the lives of Dave Duerson and John Mackey pass before us, both NFL greats haunted by the repercussions of repetitive head injury (where Duerson would be diagnosed postmortem with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and Mackey, who had struggled with progressive dementia after his life in the NFL), and we have seen the collective action taken by 75 former NFL players to sue the league for withholding information on the implications of mild traumatic brain injury in their sport, which in turn allegedly allowed for the development of debilitative cognitive disorders and alterations in mental health.  We have seen these stories, and maybe we’re just starting to remember them as we look through this article, for to some, we have seen these issues live as one-day-acknowledgements, rather than signals for further action and encouragement for awareness and education regarding concussions. Continue reading →

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Lessons to Learn: Fighting for Football

26 May

“Like there haven’t been concussions in the last 100 years of sports.  Toughen up.  Quit looking for an excuse to sit on the sidelines.” [Comment on USA Today’s “Concussions now a hot issue as leagues toughen policies”]

In football, “pain” is considered “weakness leaving the body.”  It is a sensation that comes with pride and is the noted product of an individual own sacrifice of self to perform for the well being of the team he plays for.  The game itself revolves around the violence that defines football—a collection of organized aggression that is considered to be only accepting of the hard-nosed play of men.  If you can’t take a hit, then you might as well get off the field.  With violence comes expendability, where both characteristics of football blend to give it its beautiful but unforgiving persona.

So tell me what pain is.  Across the country, football players throughout all levels of play are taught the clear difference between being hurt and injured.  The aches, bruises, and cuts; this is when you’re hurt.  You can play through them, and one way or another, you or your coach will make damn sure that you play through them.  The muscle tears and broken bones, however, are clear to be defined as injuries, where slings, crutches, and casts are provided in relations of series of x-ray scans that prove that something is wrong with your body.  Here you are forgiven.  We’ll see you in a few weeks when you’re ready to go.  And as long as you stay true to your promise that you have dedicated yourself to this football program, then you will have your position on the depth chart back when you’ve shown the medical professionals that your body is in sufficient condition to play.

Now the real question is, what is a headache?  Sure, we’ve all played through headaches at one point or another throughout the course of our football careers, but did we ever stop to think about what it may be, or take the time to give ourselves a self-evaluation of our ability to continue playing at an efficient level?  Did we maybe forget being the huddle immediately as we placed our fingers on the line of scrimmage before the play began?  Did we fumble our words when calling an offensive or defensive play because we simply did not consolidate the routine signals or calls that our coaches have engrained in our minds since day one?  Did we ever come to forget the score of the game, or wonder how or why you were in on a certain play but not have the ability to recall making the tackle? Continue reading →

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Trends in Concussion Incidence in High School Sports

17 May

Mike Hopper takes a second to review a current research article, we would love to hear your take on this as well.

Concussions appear to continue to rise. Is it due to an increase in incidence or is it due to an increase in awareness? This study was conducted over an 11 year period in the Fairfax County School District in Falls Church, Virginia. The authors note that the numbers saw significant increases over the course of the study, but they do not attribute that to anything in particular.

The researchers conducted an 11 year study in a large school district with a certified athletic trainer on site for games and practices. Each school had 2 part-time athletic trainers from 1997-2005 and then a minimum of one full-time athletic trainer and one part-time athletic trainer after that.

A common occurrence is that football was the leading sport for concussion incidence. I think this fairly well-known at this point and no surprise. Girls’ soccer was #2 on the list which also should Continue reading →

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Save Your Brain

2 May

We would like to introduce Save Your Brain, an organization headed by a Penn State University graduate amongst others who seek to take on the sports concussion crisis from a unique perspective.  Their approach is to synthesize entertainment with education, while encouraging the playing of contact sports in correlation with the emphasis of the need for concussion education.  The Concussion Blog’s “Project Brain Wave” will be working with Save Your Brain in the near future on some collaborative efforts in educative interviews and fundraising events.  Check them out!  You can also follow their mainstream & student-athlete targeted campaign on Facebook and Twitter.

With regard to America’s youth, entertainment and education have long been thought to be mutually exclusive entities. We at Save Your Brain seek to merge the two in a unique pursuit to revolutionize the instruction of tomorrow’s athlete.

Save Your Brain is an activist organization with the goal of both raising awareness and educating athletes on the concussion epidemic in youth sports. We are presenting a unique approach to teaching young athletes, making it fun to learn about brain injuries.  Concussions are a 21st century problem that requires a 21st century solution. Odds are if you try to tell a high school athlete that he’s gonna be a part of a statistic, he‘s going to tell you where to go (and it’s not a happy place). Nobody questions an athlete who takes appropriate time to heal a torn ACL or broken arm. We feel that it is just as important, if not more important, that this same mentality is applied to concussions. Our goal is to make it an inherent part of their athletic psyche to know that these are serious injuries that require proper attention and recovery. Continue reading →

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A Calling For Ease: Drew Fernandez’s Story

16 Apr

(Project Brain Wave)  High school football is one of the most exciting, defining, and proud markers of American culture, and is a level of play that to many, extends beyond being just a game.  The dreaded months of training camp, the long hours in the weight room and practice field, and the time spent studying playbooks to perfect a team’s system all contribute to the same goal—that being the unforgettable feeling of standing beneath the lights on a Friday night before your home crowd, set to take on the opponent you have prepared for.  This feeling that empowers our student athletes, that makes our parents proud and supportive, that makes our friends anxious to witness game day, is what the coaches and players live for.  High school football is defining, and is home to life lessons to be learned and experiences to cherish.  But for the Fernandez family, the high school football season of 2008 is one they will never forget.

Drew Fernandez, a young up and coming running back for his high school’s football program that was known for state championships in seven of the previous ten years, was productive both on the field, and off the field, executing plays on the field and performing well in his studies in the classroom.  His older brother had also been part of their high school’s championship legacy, and Drew was looking forward to contributing to such successes as well.  His first year in high school was in 2008, and it would be the first time he would have an opportunity to be a part of his hometown’s illustrious football program also.  According to his mother, Tracey, “football was everything to him.”

But such a mentality would soon be combated during one of his freshman football games, as Drew received the ball at running back during play, and then took hits from defenders in both the front and back of his head while he was being tackled.  Drew had sustained a concussion, and would be removed from play.  His mother told me of what events would then follow after her son took a blow to the head, resulting in his diagnosis.

“The trainer of the opposing team (the game was away) called me to tell me Drew suffered a concussion, and asked me if I wanted him to go back to school on the team bus or if he should call the paramedics,” said Tracey.  “I asked him to call the paramedics, and I met them at the ER.  The last thing Drew remembers from the day of his injury was riding on the bus to the game.  He has no recall of the trip to the ER via ambulance or anything thereafter until the next morning when he woke up at home.” Continue reading →

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Why I Do What I Do: John Gonoude’s Story

7 Apr

(Project Brain Wave)  I often say that I wish I could go back in time and live the life that I missed out on in high school.  I wish that, when hanging out with my friends, I would not have moments where I would feel out of place, detached from conversation, and left in a state where I could no longer relate to the memories they shared.  I wish that I could have played all throughout my high school years, and that I could have stood alongside those who I considered to be my closest friends, my family, through three seasons of varsity competition.  I wish that I could put on the helmet one more time and give it all I have to play just one more game, to look up at the lights shining down upon the gridiron on a Friday night, with my father in the stands, my teammates beside me, and my heart on the field.  But as much as these feelings come to creep their way into my thoughts, I still feel that I did the right thing by setting my helmet aside and considering the future that I have ahead of me.  And yet it still hurts.  It hurts to say that I lived a career that never was.

In 2007, our high school football program had brought in a new coaching staff following the resignation of the previous coach months before.  It was a strange moment, for we had all been prepared to play for the previous system, but we were now introduced to one that was innovative, powerful, and decorated with a prestigious reputation.  I told myself that I would do anything for this coaching staff, because I believed in them.  I understood what they wanted to accomplish with our team, and how they wanted to go about doing it.  I bought into their platform immediately to mentally prepare myself for months of rigorous work in hopes of competing for a starting role my sophomore year.

Training camp was something that I had never been involved with before.  It was my first year with the varsity program, and as an offensive lineman and defensive lineman, I knew that I had much competition to reckon with.  The days were hot in the summer.  The hours put into the weight room were long and frustrating, but productive.  The sprints up hills challenged us all mentally.  But many of us made it through that 2007 summer.  I made it through, and little did I know that my name would be included favorably on the depth chart when our guard was injured leading into two-a-days. Continue reading →

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Shane Dronett diagnosed with CTE

2 Apr

Shane Dronett, former offensive lineman for the Atlanta Falcons, has been diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy.  The discovery was made following his 2009 death, which was ruled a suicide.  CNN Health does an excellent job giving a synopsis of his downward spiral.  I recommend everyone to take the time to view the story of Dronett, as well as how his erratic behavior affected his family leading up to the self-inflicted termination of his life.

Featured quotes from the CNN Health article include…

It began in 2006, with a bad dream.

“He woke up in the middle of the night and started screaming and told everyone to run out of the house,” said Chris Dronett, Shane Dronett’s wife. “He thought that someone was blowing up our house. It was very frightening.”

Chris tried to dismiss the incident as isolated, except that two weeks later, there was another outburst, then another, until they were an almost-nightly occurrence. And as Shane’s fear and paranoia began overwhelming him, so did episodes of confusion and rage that sometimes turned violent. Continue reading →

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Yankees Acknowledge Concussions

31 Mar

For sixteen years Jorge Posada has been behind the plate for the New York Yankees, and today, he is listed in the line-up as the team’s designated hitter.  Of course there have been several factors that have led to such a position change, but of those listed, we come to find that concussions may have played a part in such a change for the five-time all-star.

The catching position is closely associated with debilitating knee issues developing over time in an individual player, as being the rock behind the dish does not come with any ease.  It is a difficult position to play, and is but an essential piece to the puzzle for any roster in any level of the game.  But what many may look beyond, at least those who have not played the position before, is the fact that catchers are prone to taking balls off of the mask from foul tips.  Let’s not forget that they are the other half of the equation during a collision at the plate when a base runner is striving to touch home plate.  Catching is associated with pride, and pain.

With that in mind, this is where we come to note Posada’s predicament.  It turns out that Posada has battled with symptoms relative to that of what would be considered to be a concussion throughout the extent of his career, and has not necessarily been one to take himself out of the mix when dealing with headaches and feeling ‘not right.’  This is something that manager Joe Girardi, a former Yankee catcher himself, was concerned about.

“He’s experienced things with the headaches and stuff. He had some headaches last year with the concussions, that sort of thing, that we were concerned about,” Girardi said. “When he had that concussion last year, you could see that he was foggy for a couple days.” Continue reading →

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Madden NFL Football Introduces Concussion Policy

30 Mar

Madden NFL Football has been one of my favorite series of video games throughout my childhood.  It has truly captivated a generation of young athletes, and even adults for that matter, and has come to produce a world that is so intricately similar to that of what you would see on a Sunday afternoon on your HD television.  It has come a long way since its conception, and has leaped to the foreground of sporting video games to be, without a doubt, the most popular and well-known.  Today, Madden NFL Football, despite any rumors of the lockout for the NFL this upcoming season, is back in the news.

According to a report published by NBC Chicago, the game has decided to incorporate up-to-date management policies on how a concussion is dealt with in the game.  As noted on my own personal Facebook wall, I called this- for lack of a better term.  I had a feeling that, with all of the attention concussions were getting during the 2010-2011 season, concussions would soon find their way into the game of Madden NFL Football, which has been praised for how close-to-reality it has been.

And yet as soon as I posted this on my Facebook wall, the expected response came up as a notification.  Please, excuse me and the individual’s comment for using the following adjective in an inappropriate and incorrect way…

The response: “wow, this is gay” (followed by an immediate ‘like’). Continue reading →

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Time to Heal: Tracy Yatsko’s Story

22 Mar

Last June, I had the pleasure of speaking at a press conference at Lincoln Financial Field in support of Pennsylvania State Representative Tim Briggs’ proposed concussion management legislation.  I was an eighteen-year old who had been researching concussions in sports for nearly ten months at that point—a task that I engaged in to further educate myself and others on the subject at hand; a project that would essentially close many doors in my past that had been left open for too long.  But as I situated myself beside the podium at this press conference, I had no idea what kind of story the young woman sitting to my left had to say.  Of course, throughout my research, I understood that others have been through worse—much worse—than what I had experienced, but never did I think I would meet someone I could relate to.  It was even more than just relating to, for this individual shared a heartbreaking story to the public.  She was at the press conference for the same reason as myself, and that was to promote the need for concussion legislation in our state, but she did more than that.  Her words were more than the cover to a bill.  Her words were the voice of the sports concussion crisis.

Today, Tracy Yatsko, a twenty-three-year old woman from Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, is still fighting the repercussions of an injury that ended her high school athletic career.  Six years removed from the moment of her last concussion, Yatsko represents the qualities of strength and motivation, for her battle has not been one that has been easy.  Sure, I have heard of stories in which athletes have sustained decisively fatal blows to the head.  But when I talk to this woman, and when I think about her story, the only words that I can describe how I have perceived her story is hell on earth.  Why did this situation in which Yatsko found herself within come to be?

2005 was a year, with regards to concussion awareness, that was still present in the sports’ ‘Era of Good Feelings.’  There was not much to worry about, and though there were stories creeping out of the media regarding concussions in football, there was not much of a worry in other athletic activities.  There really wasn’t much consideration as to what a concussion was.  It was merely an injury that was ignorantly summarized as a headache; a distraction; a joke.  And with such stigma comes tides of the familiar phrase that claims pain to be weakness leaving the body.  Only did we, or rather, do we, come to open our eyes to what a concussion is until the moment of a tragedy personally affects ourselves or those who we consider to be close to us. Continue reading →

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