Concussions: What Athletes Need to Know

Concussions are a common injury for athletes in a wide variety of sports. Though well-known in high-contact sports like football, hockey, and soccer, concussions can occur in virtually any sport if an athlete suffers some sort of impact or quick motion to the head or body causing the head to rotate or snap quickly. Though concussions can be a common injury for athletes, it’s important to take them seriously. Severe or repeated concussions can have devastating long-term effects.

Concussion Basics

Concussions can be caused by a direct impact to the head or neck during high-impact sports, but can also be caused by abrupt motion of the body with no direct impact to the head. When the head is bumped or jolted or the body moved quickly, the brain can move around or twist in the skull. This abnormal movement creates changes in the brain’s function and processes which can become dangerous if not addressed quickly.

Concussion Warning Signs

If an athlete has suffered any injury to the head or neck, it’s important to keep an eye out for a number of concussion warning signs. Balance difficulty, memory loss, dizziness, nausea, impaired vision, headaches, and mental slowing are all signs that something could be wrong. If any of these signs are present, the athlete should stop activity immediately and consult a sports medicine physician as soon as possible.

Treatment

Early identification and treatment of concussions can prevent further brain damage and speed up your return to school, work, and play. At Winning Health, we have developed The Concussion Center of Charleston to provide acute concussion management to our patients in the Lowcountry. Concussion management is always changing, but our sports medicine doctors use the most advanced technology available to recognize and treat concussions.

We conduct an in-depth initial assessment to determine if someone has incurred a concussion, testing different aspects of memory, focus, concentration, balance, and vision to find which systems in the brain are most affected. We then develop an individualized Post-Concussion Rehabilitation Protocol based upon the needs of each patient and guided by the most recent data on concussions/brain injuries from research in military medicine and sports medicine.

Concussions can be dangerous and should be taken seriously, but with quick identification and proper attention from a sports medicine physician, most athletes bounce back and return to regular activity. If you think you may have sustained a concussion or another injury is impacting your performance, give our office a call at (843) 471-0375 to set up an appointment with one of our physicians.