Head Injuries Sustained In Sports
18 Sep 2009
"Do you know of anyone who could help my child?" a long-standing friend of mine recently asked me" Their young child had sustained a head injury while playing hockey had been left with severe headaches and various medications had failed to relieve his suffering. Today, head injuries can occur in a variety of sporting activities. So what should about even minor blows to the head?
Earlier this year actress Natasha Richardson fell and struck her head while skiing on a beginners slope at Mont Tremblant in Quebec. She walked away apparently without injury. But what shocked the world was the headline news 24 hours later that she had died from this trivial injury. After all, she was not racing down a steep slope at olympic speeds.
So what had happened? During a blow to the head the brain can strike the hard skull and be0come bruised or injured. But Richardson’s death should remind us that we all have very unlucky days. And if it’s one of those days on rare occasions, a sudden minor impact can trigger a rupture of blood vessels that surround the brain. If bleeding continues and is not diagnosed the increased pressure causes injury to the brain and death can follow unless surgery is done to stop the hemorrhage.
The symptoms of a traumatic brain injury (TBI) depends on how badly the brain is damaged. After a mild TBI the person may feel dizzy, confused, stunned or disorientated. If the extent of the injury is more severe they may have seizures, headache, vomiting and become unconscious.
Suspect a TBI if patients complain of double vision, speech difficulties, weakness on one side of the body and loss of balance when trying to walk.
Mild TBIs do not always need treatment. But after a head impact even if the symptoms are mild it’s prudent to go to the emergency for evaluation. This is particularly crucial if patients are taking a blood thinner such as Coumadin that increases the risk of bleeding.
Today TBIs are likely to increase and, unlike Natasha Richardson, they will not be headline news. And as the NHL hockey season begins we will again start to hear about the "big hits in our national sport that has become rather violent.
Ken Dryden, the former goal tender for the Montreal Canadians says we all forget how much the game has changed. Today players are 27 pounds heavier, taller and shifts have decreased from two minutes (Henri Richard routinely had a three minute shift!) to 40 seconds. The result is that players go out and give it their all for 40 seconds. And when two 225 pound bodies collide during a big hit both heads are vulnerable to concussion.
Since teenagers aspire to be in the NHL they also try to mimic their heroes. But this comes with a price. A study showed that 86 percent of al hockey injuries among players 9 to 15 years of age are due t body checking.
