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How much do you know about concussions? Do you know what to do if you think someone is
concussed?
Our team of experts has worked with professional athletes who are recovering from
concussions. We made this quiz to help you recognize the symptoms and learn how to give have
the best shot at full recovery.
Ready? Let's get going ...
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analyze individual statistics and no one will contact you at any time. Please review our
Privacy Policy . Because their brains are still growing, those 17 and younger are the most vulnerable to concussion.
As you can see from the chart, youth 15-17 have the highest rate of concussion. This rate of concussion is not only due to youth participating in sports, but car accidents, falling, and other forms of injury.
For those 15-24, sports are the second leading cause of brain
injuries. The first is car accidents.
Each year there are hundreds of thousands of sports-related concussions that required an
emergency room visit. Some of those are serious enough to be diagnosed as brain injury.
Here are some important (and often confusing) terms to remember:
Traumatic brain injury (TBI): A TBI is caused by a
blow to the head that changes the normal function of the brain.
Concussion: A concussion is a type
of TBI. It happens when a blow causes the brain to bounce around inside the skull, often
causing chemical changes and brain cell damage.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE): A brain disease
mostly found in athletes and military veterans who have a history of TBI. In CTE a
substance spreads through the brain, eventually leading to the death of brain cells.
Symptoms are often irritability, aggressiveness, paranoia, depression, lack of impulse
control, and symptoms similar to dementia. There is no cure.
Contact sports are the main cause of concussion .
Main Cause of Concussion
Contact sports are not always the cause of concussion. For those 15-24, the main cause is car
accidents.
For small kids aged 0-4, falling or abuse are the most common causes.
Helmets can prevent concussions.
Helmets Help – But They Cannot Prevent Concussions
While it’s always a good idea to wear a helmet while playing a sport, helmets cannot prevent
an athlete from getting a concussion.
Did You Know?
Most helmets have expiry dates. Helmet expiry dates are most often shown on a sticker located
on the back of a helmet:
Some helmets, like bike helmets, do not have expiry dates. However, experts suggest that they
be replaced every five years.
It’s also important to remember that hand-me-down helmets may be molded for another person’s
head – or worse – be cracked or misshapen!
What sport has the highest rate of concussion?
Sport with Highest Rate of Concussion
The sport with the highest concussion reporting rate is girls soccer, followed by boys
soccer.
The CDC estimates that each year:
Adults make almost 3 million visits to the emergency department for TBI , and children make almost 1 million more visits.
About 288,000 adults and 23,000 children are hospitalized for concussion .
Around 57,000 adults and 2,600 children die after sustaining a TBI .
Soccer has done a great job of educating people about concussion, and how important it is to
get professional help if a player has been injured.
In order to get a concussion, an athlete needs to have a direct hit to the head.
Hits to the Head
Most people don’t realize this. You DO NOT need to be hit in
the head to sustain or incur a head injury.
VIDEO
As you can see simply experiencing whiplash, a hit to the body, or some other form of vigorous shaking can cause your head and brain to move rapidly back and forth.
Technically, a concussion only happens when you get:
Note: The term g-force (or “gravitational force equivalent) is used to describe the acceleration of an object relative to the earth’s gravity. For example, it’s common for a fighter pilot to experience a g-force of six when making a turn.
Does Force Matter?
There is no known minimum g-forces needed for someone to sustain a concussion. Some
researchers have tried to study, but so far, they haven’t found a reliable answer.
What we do know is that once a person sustains a concussion, they’re 33% more vulnerable to
get another concussion in comparison to someone who was never concussed.
When do concussion symptoms appear?
Concussion Symptoms
Concussion symptoms can appear immediately, or they can appear more than 10 days after the
injury.
For some, concussion symptoms appear slowly in a "wave effect" where they get worse over
time.
What are the main signs of concussion? Please select all that apply:
Main Signs of Concussion
The top three signs of concussion are headache, dizziness/blurred vision, and upset
stomach.
However, concussion symptoms are different for each person, the best thing to do is
immediately take the athlete to the emergency room for evaluation. They will develop a
baseline to measure individual symptoms and develop a return to play plan.
Once a person has sustained a concussion, they should not sleep through the night and should be woken up every two hours.
Sleeping Through the Night
Having to wake someone up every two hours is a common misconception. A person who has
sustained a concussion does not need to be woken up e every two hours.
After being examined by a medical professional, most injured people can sleep through the
night without having to be woken up. The key is to seek medical assistance immediately and
follow instructions.
Treatment for concussion is relatively simple. Someone recovering from a concussion should:
Treatment
Those who sustain a concussion can have aspirin or Tylenol as needed.
They should also avoid visual stress like computer monitors, cell phones, or fine-print
reading. Studies have shown that this reduces cognitive stress and overload, headaches, and
blurred vision.
Once concussion symptoms have gone away athletes can return to the game.
Getting Back to the Game
It's a common misconception, but it's quite simply NOT OK to
return to sport just because
symptoms subsided.
Getting back to the game depends on a number of factors, such as:
The time required to heal - concussion affects people differently and recovery has
nothing to do with strength or smarts
The stress and physicality of the reintroduced sport
The likelihood of being re-injured
Whether there is a history of concussion
How the individual progressed through their treatment plan - which should include
input from the athlete, their medical professional, coach, and fellow teammates
Concussions can affect a person’s personality forever.
Personality Changes
A concussion can alter someone's personality for their lifetime. Concussions are very serious
and affect people differently. That's why it's important to seek medical attention
immediately.
Before we give you your quiz results, the next few questions will help us in our research, which is to understand the level of concussion knowledge in North America.
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