20
Wednesday, January 27, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
CONCuSSIONS: Brain
injury can have serious
long-term effects
Continued from page 1
country — most of us are just
coming to grips with what it
really means to “get your bell
rung.”
A concussion is a brain
injury — and it’s serious
business. It’s important to
note that most athletes will
get through their youth sports
career without ever suffer-
ing a concussion. And most
kids recover fully from a
concussion in relatively short
order, if treated properly. But
in some cases there can be
serious, long-lasting effects
that cause difficulties in
school, changes in mood and
demeanor and leave parents
dealing with a changed child.
The University of Oregon
Center on Brain Injury and
Training notes that: “Only
recently have we begun to
understand what happens to
the brain during a concus-
sion. In the past, people used
the analogy that a concussion
was a ‘bruise to the brain.’
It is actually a very complex
event…
“A concussion results in a
temporary, or in some cases
lasting, disruption of normal
brain function. It occurs when
the brain is violently rocked
back and forth or twisted
inside the skull as a result of
a blow to the head or body…
This sudden movement of the
brain causes stretching and
tearing of brain cells, dam-
aging the cells and creating
chemical changes in the brain.
Those chemical changes
result in physical, emotional,
and cognitive symptoms.
Once those changes occur, the
brain is vulnerable to further
injury and sensitive to any
increased stress until it fully
recovers.” (See related story,
page 21.)
Sisters schools, parents
and athletes are working now
to ensure that local youth are
protected from concussion
as much as possible — and,
most importantly, that they
receive the proper care when
concussions occur.
It’s not always easy and
straightforward.
A relatively less severe
concussion can present seri-
ous symptoms. The location
of a hit can affect symptoms.
And the real danger comes
when an athlete suffers
another concussion before his
or her brain has completely
healed from the first. That can
happen if coaches and other
team personnel are not alert
to a concussion and put an
athlete back in a game — or
the next game — before they
are fully healed.
And hard-charging ath-
letes — and their parents
— want to get back into the
game as quickly as possible.
Sisters schools have
established a concussion and
return-to-participation proto-
col in an effort to immediately
identify potential concussion,
get a kid assessed and keep
them out of their sport and
other activities until they are
ready to return.
Coaches are trained in the
concussion protocol.
“The concussion train-
ing is through the National
Federation of State High
School Associations,” said
Sisters High School Athletic
Director Tim Roth. “It is an
online training and they are
tested on the material. We are
required to take this training
every year.”
Some observers have
questioned the efficacy of
online training — concerned
that it’s just “checking the
box” and doesn’t impart to
coaches the seriousness of
the issue. However, it seems
that online training is the cur-
rent standard for youth sports
coaches.
All athletes in contact
sports get “baseline” test-
ing through The Center
Foundation, to help identify
when a blow has disrupted
their brain function.
“We’ve started testing kids
at the middle school,” Roth
said. “So we’ve got baseline
data on some of them for six
years.”
If a concussion is sus-
pected, the athlete is removed
from play and referred to
trainer Alex Walker who
works through The Center
Foundation. The parent or
guardian will be given an
information packet on con-
cussion, including descrip-
tions of concussion signs and
symptoms.
If testing is normal, the
athlete can return. If tests
are not normal, the injured
student is required to sit out
and rest and the school and
the parents and students will
develop accommodations in
the classroom as needed (see
related story, page 8).
The student will have to
be medically cleared before
returning to full participation.
Roth has faith in the proto-
col’s effectiveness.
“I feel like our return-to-
participation is pretty solid,”
he said. “I don’t see holes in
our RTP.”
Athletes themselves can be
a weak link — because they
don’t want to miss games
due to injury of any kind.
It’s pretty easy to identify a
severe hit from the sidelines
— and coaches should be
alert to odd behavior from a
player. But it’s also important
that athletes themselves be
willing to cop to symptoms,
or report them in their peers.
“I wish we could guarantee
that student-athletes would
photo by jerry baldock
Football carries the risk of concussion. teaching proper tackling technique
is an important element in protecting players.
feel comfortable telling when
they have symptoms,” said
SHS nurse Trish Roy.
Bob Collins, retired neu-
rologist and co-founder of
the Sisters Science Club, is
working with Roth and other
school officials to improve
community outreach and edu-
cation of parents, teachers,
students, coaches and com-
munity regarding concussion.
Collins told The Nugget
that self-reporting of symp-
toms is very important — and
requires a cultural shift.
“I’d really like to inculcate
that in the masculine culture
of football,” he said. “That’s a
smart and healthy thing to do,
and it honors the game and it
honors other players.”
Collins provided The
Nugget with a Minnesota
Department of Health study
that indicates that football
has the highest incidence
of concussion among youth
sports, followed by girls soc-
cer (heading), girls basketball
and boys soccer. It is believed
that girls are more vulnerable
than boys in heading the ball
because their neck strength
may not be as capable of
stabilizing the head under a
blow.
Roth told The Nugget that
he’s seen fewer than 10 con-
cussions this year, but some
have been serious. Roy noted
in an interview earlier this
month that she had seen three
new concussions that week.
Concussion is not viral —
incidences can be reduced
and the harm from them can
be mitigated with proper
protocols.
“The more I read, the
more reassured I am that we
can protect kids from brain
injury in sports,” Collins told
The Nugget. “(The movie)
‘Concussion’ has sent out
the scare — as it should —
but the condition (CTE brain
disease) is almost entirely
focused on professional play-
ers who have head-butted
for years. I mention all this
because I don’t want to over-
sensitize high school kids and
parents. High school sports
are simply fabulous, and
many studies find that stu-
dent athletes get better grades
when playing — AND make
lifelong friends. HUGE…
“Educate everyone as
much as possible. Protect
and nourish the kid who gets
a concussion; he/she will do
fine with time.”