A concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) that affects your brain function. There are three situations that you may get a concussion: a direct blow to the head, a collision in impact sports and a violent shake of the head or the upper body. Concussion will not bring life-threatening symptoms, but they can be very serious sometimes. For instance, you may have a severe headache, lose your balance, or fall unconscious after concussion.
Statistics has shown that there are more than 3 million cases per year in the US. Among all these cases, 300 thousand are sports-related, as it is reported by the University of Pittsburgh’s Brain Trauma Research Center.
Concussion causes can be divided into two categories: sports-related concussions and non-sports concussions.
Sports-Related Causes
A knockout or repetitive blow in boxing can make the boxer have a concussion.
Football has by far the largest incidence of concussions in youth sports
Other sports involving body contacts like volleyball, cheerleading, softball, baseball, basketball, and lacrosse, are all responsible for increasing concussions to players since the late 20th century.
Non-Sports Concussion Causes
The concussion causes in combat are well documented and tend to be most often related to explosions. And other causes of military or combat-related concussions are usually vehicle collisions, falls,
At present, there is no clear genetic marker to identify higher injury risk or adverse outcomes. However, in both sports and military data, women seem to be less likely to have concussions than men.
The symptoms of a concussion can be subtle. Some symptoms can show up immediately, others may be delayed and last for days, weeks or even longer.
Immediate symptoms of a concussion may include:
Other symptoms may be delayed for hours or days after injury, such as:
Concussion clues in children may include:
You will be sent to the emergency room, if you accidentally fall down, have an accident, or an incident on an athletic playing field. Your doctor will usually begin the diagnosis with:
Then, to determine the range and severity of post-concussion symptoms, your doctor may perform or recommend the following tests:
Most concussions don’t require surgery or any major medical treatment. General advice for treating a concussion includes the following:
Keywords: concussion, tramatic brain injury.