Head injuries among young sports players in Ontario are on the rise. The Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) reported in 2014 that from 2003 to 2010, the number of youngsters seeking concussion treatment in Toronto was on the rise. There are those who think that this is not necessarily a bad thing, because it may indicate that parents are more savvy about their children's injuries.
The Mayo Clinic defines concussion as a traumatic brain injury that alters the way the brain operates. Such alteration may be temporary or permanent and varies in severity. The symptoms include problems with balance, coordination and concentration or loss of memory. The seriousness of the injury does not always correlate with the level of symptoms. Even a slight blow to the head can cause serious or permanent damage.
The symptoms of concussion may be very subtle and may not present themselves for days, weeks or even months after the injury. They include loss of memory, headache and confusion. They may also include slurred speech, nausea and vomiting, ringing in the ears, seeing stars or a feeling of pressure inside the head. Toddlers and children may become irritable or cranky, cry excessively, display altered eating and/or sleeping patterns or lose interest in their favorite toys.
A trauma to the head does not have to seem serious in order to cause serious brain injury. Many sports players, when injured, insist on continuing to play after receiving a blow to the head. Sadly, this can end in tragedy, as the death of British actress Natasha Richardson, shortly after refusing treatment for a bump on the head while skiing.
People who take part in vigorous contact sports are particularly prone to concussive head injury, especially in the sport of hockey. In this sport, there is a defensive move called bodychecking in which the defensive player throws his entire body weight against the player who has the puck. The defender uses his or her hip, shoulder, upper arm and elbow to make contact.
In 2010, bodychecking to the player's blind side or to the head was outlawed in an effort to reduce the number of concussions suffered by young players. So far, this has not been the case. What is particularly worrying is that women hockey players, in whose sport bodychecking is prohibited completely, are experiencing higher rates of concussion than their male counterparts.
The increase in numbers of concussions in female hockey players, and indeed sportswomen in general, is not confined to professional or even college players. Pee wee coaches of girls aged 9 and 10 are reporting high numbers of head injuries. Despite the absence of bodychecking in the women's game, women are experiencing similar, or even higher, levels of concussive head injury.
There is a chief neurosurgeon at a major hospital in Massachusetts who thinks that the reason for this disproportionate increase in concussions could indicate that women are more susceptible than their male counterparts and that more research is needed. Alternatively, it could be that women are not training their neck muscles as much as men do, or that they are more open about reporting such injuries.
The Mayo Clinic defines concussion as a traumatic brain injury that alters the way the brain operates. Such alteration may be temporary or permanent and varies in severity. The symptoms include problems with balance, coordination and concentration or loss of memory. The seriousness of the injury does not always correlate with the level of symptoms. Even a slight blow to the head can cause serious or permanent damage.
The symptoms of concussion may be very subtle and may not present themselves for days, weeks or even months after the injury. They include loss of memory, headache and confusion. They may also include slurred speech, nausea and vomiting, ringing in the ears, seeing stars or a feeling of pressure inside the head. Toddlers and children may become irritable or cranky, cry excessively, display altered eating and/or sleeping patterns or lose interest in their favorite toys.
A trauma to the head does not have to seem serious in order to cause serious brain injury. Many sports players, when injured, insist on continuing to play after receiving a blow to the head. Sadly, this can end in tragedy, as the death of British actress Natasha Richardson, shortly after refusing treatment for a bump on the head while skiing.
People who take part in vigorous contact sports are particularly prone to concussive head injury, especially in the sport of hockey. In this sport, there is a defensive move called bodychecking in which the defensive player throws his entire body weight against the player who has the puck. The defender uses his or her hip, shoulder, upper arm and elbow to make contact.
In 2010, bodychecking to the player's blind side or to the head was outlawed in an effort to reduce the number of concussions suffered by young players. So far, this has not been the case. What is particularly worrying is that women hockey players, in whose sport bodychecking is prohibited completely, are experiencing higher rates of concussion than their male counterparts.
The increase in numbers of concussions in female hockey players, and indeed sportswomen in general, is not confined to professional or even college players. Pee wee coaches of girls aged 9 and 10 are reporting high numbers of head injuries. Despite the absence of bodychecking in the women's game, women are experiencing similar, or even higher, levels of concussive head injury.
There is a chief neurosurgeon at a major hospital in Massachusetts who thinks that the reason for this disproportionate increase in concussions could indicate that women are more susceptible than their male counterparts and that more research is needed. Alternatively, it could be that women are not training their neck muscles as much as men do, or that they are more open about reporting such injuries.
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