Hard Knocks: Do We Really Understand the Extent of a Concussion?

It’s a question that any sportsman, regardless of their sport - from football to volleyball – should seriously ask themselves. Do you really understand what a concussion is, and what it can cause if left untreated or repeated time after time? It isn’t a sin to admit ignorance, but its damn near idiotic not to admit the injury.

What is a ‘Concussion’?

“A concussion is a disturbance of the nerve cells in the brain as a result of a blow to the skull”
Put simply, it’s the result of your brain smashing against your skull so hard it temporarily shuts parts of the brain down. So every concussion is serious, no matter how meager the hit may have seemed.

What are the symptoms?

Nausea (feeling that you might throw up)
Balance problems or dizziness
Headache
Double or fuzzy vision
Feeling groggy
Confusion
Concentration problems

These symptoms usually rear their heads in one go, with a sufferer usually seeming out of it and unable to recover fully. However, sometimes the effects can be less obvious to others, and in many cases, a concussion can go untreated due to embarrassment or simply not reading the signs clearly enough.

Worst Case Scenario - The End of the Spectrum

If you’ve been stuck underneath a rock for the past six months then you will have heard the coverage of the Benoit family tragedy. If you don’t know the story, go search for it, it isn’t nice, but the latest developments have brought authorities and the world a step closer to understanding why Chris Benoit did what he did. Other than his gross intake of anabolic steroids, a recent report showed Benoit was suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE): basically, Benoit had concussed himself so many times over his career that his brain resembled “that of an 85-year-old Alzheimer’s patient. And with NFL players dropping like flies from repetitive brain injuries and concussed-based suicides, the evidence has never been clearer.

So what does this mean to young sportsman?

At College and University level – and beyond – its unlikely we as sportsman are going to take the kind of punishment that a pro-linebacker or a pro wrestler would, but both cases above were and continue to be the result of one simple factor: not reading the signs, and not having the guts to act on them and avoid further injury. Any doctor will tell you a concussion is serious, two in a row is even worse, but three is damn near dangerous.

It’s drummed into our heads (no pun intended) at school that our brains and skulls are not fully strengthened until adulthood, hence many schools choosing to play more non-contact sports such as tag-rugby or touch-lacrosse. However, grown men can still suffer extensive problems from one or more concussions, depending on the severity of the hit. Of course, concussions are more likely in contact sports such as rugby, lacrosse and American football, and as hard as we try to be safe, concussions are always the painful by-product of accidental points of contact (such as making a rugby tackle across the body, only to have the ball-carrier’s knee strike you in the head).

Ultimately, some sportsman may never suffer a concussion in their life. Maybe they’re just a hard bastard, maybe they play their game so well then know how to avoid them, or maybe, and more than likely, they are just lucky. As with any sport, especially contact sports, taking and making a hit is part of the game, and we all put our bodies on the line every time we commit to one. The best advice I can give you is don’t be a tool, if you have suffered the symptoms you read earlier, especially on more than one occasion, then tell your coach, and better yet, tell your doctor.

Read the signs, and take the right steps.

D.R - Lincoln

Losing Faith - The Biggest Problem

It's a Tuesday afternoon - over two days since my last full contact training for American Football - and my body's still aching like hell. It's something I'm used to now, and after a debut season pouring my heart, soul and body into every move, both off and on the field, I'm ready for what this new season will bring. But it doesn't mean there are moments where I could just walk away and have done with it; and there are a lot.

To even walk into a gym takes a lot for most people (granted there are those of us who simply exude confidence and are less affected by such a thing), but it takes a hell of a lot more to stay there, to see some point in lifting another stupidly heavy weight whilst some mid-nineties crap skips over the speakers, and some fake-tanned meat-head leans over again to ask "You done wiv those weights mate?".

And even now, years after I first forced myself to do something about my bad health, I still find myself sat on work bench, music in my ears and absolutely no drive to do another muscle-straining set. And the truth is, these moments are healthy. Without a moment of sheer despair and self-loathing it’s difficult to really see the extent of the problem. The desire to change something like a bad diet or crappy attitude to exercise can only spring into life once you've found yourself in that dark little hole looking up for some glimmer of a way out.

If you met me you'd never think I play a sport, or a full contact one at that. And I fight every time I train to improve and raise the bar of my performance. I stopped playing rugby when I was 16, and never found the sheer drive to join a gym till I was 18. Over the last three years there have been times, maybe weeks at a time where I've found myself avoiding the gym - because its too much effort, because I felt like shit, or simply because it was the last thing on my mind at the time. And once again, as hard as it was, I somehow needed to fall off the bandwagon to find the drive again that made me want to change my life in the first place.

"Confidence and commitment, are the single, most important factors in making that first step" - the words of my Offensive Coach - nuff' said.