Sports Concussions
Sandra Zisckind
I have decided, I am going to be the only one who doesn’t talk about the mayor this week. It is not a moral stance but I think the media has done a great job covering it and hey what more is there to say?
I want to talk about sports. Watching the NFL with my husband and watching those brutal hits, reminded me of the prevalence of concussions. While we proudly have our Canadian football, we all know our sport is hockey, another sport ridden with concussions. Head injuries of any kind are extremely dangerous and the ensuing symptoms are all encompassing.
The biggest problem of course is what is deemed by the Institute of Medicine as the “culture of resistance. They put together a fantastic report on youth on sports-related concussions in youth. What they found to be prevalent is the idea of playing through it, walking it off so to speak. The problem is some head injuries resolve themselves quickly, others take longer. The biggest issue is when you hurt your head and it has not resolved then you hurt it again.
We see this with accident victims all the time. They expect their head injury to go away and it just won’t, or they are vulnerable and are involved in what is seemingly a minor trauma but they just cannot concentrate. What are we left with? Whether its sports or accidents we have to change our thinking so that we take all head injuries seriously and get help immediately. Do not power through it or play through it without clearance from a doctor. We have to change our “man up” attitude or our OHIP system will be filled with people that have long term effects from head injuries big and small. Lets also start with our kids and not let them play injured. We need everyone to understand that taking time off for an injury does not reflect on the prowess of the athlete rather their inate intelligence.