Are you ready for some football? Well, summer is over, and school has started up again, so that means football is in full swing. I’m sure you’ve heard in the news all the discussions about concussions in football, so I wanted to review concussions and why they are so important.

Concussions are also known as mild traumatic brain injuries and are caused by a rapid acceleration, deceleration or rotational injury to the head. They result in impairments of mental functions such as concentration, memory and the ability to consider complex content.

Up until recently, concussions were not thought to cause long-term complications and were, therefore, not treated with as much concern. Because of that, it is difficult to estimate how many concussions occur in sports. But by estimates, about 250,000 concussions occur each year in American football. These occur in about one in five football players.

Concussions can occur in any sport, but are more common in collision and contact sports such as football, ice hockey, rugby and soccer. In addition, non-athletes may sustain a concussion from falling, being in a car accident or getting hit on the head.

Some people are genetically more likely to suffer a concussion after head trauma. For example, the likelihood of injury can run in the family, and once a person has sustained a concussion, he/she is four times more likely to get another concussion in his/her lifetime.

Concussions are actually only one type of head injury. There are much more severe injuries that can be associated with a higher likelihood of permanent brain injury or even death. On the sidelines, this is the main goal of the medical professional: to determine if a serious, life-threatening injury or a concussion, which is not fatal if treated properly, has occurred.

So how are concussions diagnosed? By looking at the symptoms, examining the athlete and checking his/her concentration and memory. Concussions are unique and can produce different symptoms in different people. The following symptoms are possible: headache, nausea, confusion, difficulty concentrating, disorientation, memory loss, dizziness, irritability, fatigue, changes in personality and loss of consciousness. One person may have only two of these symptoms, whereas another may have all of them. Because of that, concussions can sometimes be confusing to diagnose.

Ideally, a medical professional is making the diagnosis as opposed to a coach, parent, athlete or referee. The severity of the concussion is not necessarily linked to any one particular symptom, and is judged by how long it takes for the concussion to resolve. And this can be difficult to determine if people with a concussion want to hide their symptoms so they can return to their game.

Medical professionals can be seen on the sidelines looking at athletes to determine the severity of their injury. They may check the athletes’ eyes, reflexes, strength and sensations, and ask them questions to test their memory and concentration, as well as to see if they are responding normally in conversation. In concussions, all of the tests will likely be normal except for memory, concentration and the ability to respond normally.

By talking with athletes and evaluating them, one can make the diagnosis that a head injury has occurred. In some cases, it is not clear if it is a concussion or a more serious injury, so athletes may be sent to the ER to get a head CT. The CT is a test that will show if a more serious injury has occurred. It does not, however, show if a concussion is present.

In other words, a medical professional diagnoses a concussion after evaluating the patient, and the CT only shows if something more serious has occurred. So it is not correct to think a concussion is not present if the CT is normal. If a CT is normal, that means a more serious injury is not present.

So now that a diagnosis has been made, what are the consequences of having a concussion? The worst possible outcome would be death or permanent brain injury. The only way these would occur is if the person has had repeated concussions and especially if a new concussion occurs while the current one has not yet resolved. For this reason, it is very important for concussions to be treated and resolved before athletes return to an environment where they could sustain another injury. And some athletes who have had repeated concussions decide to no longer play sports that could result in further injury.

None of us want to be the parents or friends of athletes who drop dead on the field because they did not have their concussion treated. The most important first step is recognition and then proper treatment.

The treatment for most concussions is very easy: rest. For some, this means just a few days; for others, it might mean several weeks. The more serious the injury, the longer it will take to resolve, and the longer rest period is needed. There is no medication that will cure a concussion.

So when you watch football games this fall and see athletes down on the ground with medical professionals running to their aid, hope that if it is a concussion, the athletes will be treated properly and therefore, not have consequences such as permanent brain injury or death.

For more information about concussions, visit www.medicineinmotion.com.