Just like Grandpa!

Research has show there may be prolonged effects of concussion in youth athletes, and this college freshman is still experiencng effects of concussions sustained in high school:

"Matt... suffered two concussions while playing high-school football. Now a freshman in college, he is still affected by the injuries. "My friends always laugh when I say my memory is not what it used to be... but it's kind of sad because that's the sort of thing my grandpa says, and he's 90 years old."

When you see pro athletes having lower thresholds following their umpteenth concussion, you have to feel for a concussed college athlete trying to make the pros.

Scrambled eggs...

It is sad to see a photo like this and read the accompanying article about Trent Green after sustaining what appears to be his 7th concussion.

"Last summer, Miami Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor offered an indelicate but eerily prescient prognosis for quarterback Trent Green. One more hit, Taylor told Sports Illustrated, and Green would be “scrambled eggs.”

On Sunday, when Green sustained a serious concussion against the Houston Texans after he took a knee to the side of the head while attempting a block, something else got scrambled: his football future.

As we know the effects of concussions are cumulative, let's hope Green makes a sensible decision, after he fully recovers...

More on Mouthguards and the NFL

Mouthguards have been receiving a lot of press as of late, and rightfully so. It is good to see potential solutions being discussed:

"Players who use (the) device swear by it. Any kind of mouthguard would probably help, for that matter. The NCAA requires them. The NFL doesn't, and 40 percent of players don't bother.

You'd think the NFL would want to protect its investment. Apparently you've got to look out for yourself."

It is good to see that Pellman is no longer running things, and if he was wrong about when to return players to action after a concussion:

"...what really sunk Pellman's argument was his response to reports that 15 percent of NFL players return to play immediately after a concussion and 34 percent come back later.

"If a player feels good, what's the contraindication to letting him play again?" Pellman asked the magazine. "There is none."

... he may have been wrong about mouthguards.

"Pellman told the magazine he doesn't believe the mouthguards are viable.... a debatable point..."

I would love to see a longitudinal or retrospective study by the NFL on the efficacy of mouthguards. They cost very little, and should be considered in the same category as helmets - mandatory.

You don’t get another brain.

Follow-up commentary on yesterday's post reveals that the beat writer "gets it":

"No one at UT will actually admit McCoy suffered a concussion, which I find troubling.... the medical staff issued a statement that said the quarterback had “symptoms” of a mild concussion.

-------------

It’s simplistic but true. A concussion — even a mild one — results in an injury to the brain. It’s one thing to let Jon Kitna of the Detroit Lions talk his way back onto the field after a concussion because he’s a professional earning millions of dollars. The same goes for Julius Jones, who said he suffered concussions in two of the Cowboys’ first three games.

But McCoy won’t earn a nickel for Saturday’s game.

Just about every piece of medical evidence available suggests once a person has a concussion, he’s susceptible to having another — and usually more severe.

Beating OU simply isn’t worth the chance."

One step forward, two steps back...

Truly scary, given the knowledge out there, that the following passage could appear in print:

"McCoy threw four picks, one of which was returned for a touchdown, and left the game twice after getting driven into the turf by a defensive lineman.

Team doctors said he showed symptoms of a concussion -- vomiting and dizziness late in the game -- but nobody at Texas will say outright whether he suffered a concussion.

"I don't want to talk about it much," McCoy said. "I'll be fine. I've been with the doctors and trainers. We'll be OK."

Hmmm... let's see... driven to the turf, vomiting and dizziness, can't say he experienced a concussion.

Are you sure you want your kids playing football!?!

Is it as simple as it seems?

If blows to the jaw transfer force to the skull, or if having a chinstrap on a helmet helps transfer energy to the skull in a collision, what could be the resistance to wearing custom mouthguards?

"It’s a device, Maher said, that’s simple and effective—two small pieces of acrylic that fit over the back four teeth of each side of the lower jaw, linked by a thin ‘‘lingual bar’’ that rests behind the front teeth and allows better breathing and communication than the conventional wraparound mouth guard.

Maher’s mouth guard brings the lower jaw slightly forward, moving the condyle (the nobby tip of the jaw) to rest against a slightly thicker portion of the skull, thereby providing more cushioning. The mouth guard also ensures that the condyle does not slip off the thin disk of cartilage that is supposed to sit on top of it and act as a ‘‘shock absorber.’’

The point is to make the jaw absorb and dissipate the force of a blow that otherwise would radiate upward into the skull, where it could rattle the brain."

Don't you know that it's different for girls?

The NY Times has a great article on gender differences in concussion rates. While we do not quite know why, girls get concussions at a higher rate than boys: (free subscription required)

"Doctors are also uncertain as to why documented rates of concussion among high school girls are consistently higher than among boys in the same sports. The primary theory is that girls might be more honest in reporting injuries — though experts are confident that many girls, just like boys, hide injuries either because they are not aware of the risks or because they simply do not want to miss playing time. Other rationales include the fact that girls’ neck muscles are less developed than boys’, providing less shock absorption during impact."

Regardless, parents, be aware with girls playing sports that are not considered "contact" sports (soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, etc)