INDC_D_Concussions_SCS#1 

Scribner‐Snyder High School 

Makayla Brainard, Heather Cleary, Alexandria McMillen, 

Jamie Poppe, Micah Schut, and Jeremy Wisnieski 

The Trojan Times Special Report: Concussion Conundrum

volume XII - issue 2 - October 10th, 2012

4 5What Is A Concussion?

A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury. A con-cussion can be caused by a blow to the head or body, a fall, or

any injury that shakes the brain inside the skull. There may be no visible signs that the person has a brain injury.

Symptoms may include passing out, forgetting what happened right before injury, problems thinking, headache, blurry vision, nausea, felling

tired, balance problems, and sensitivity to light and sound. Severe concus-sion may lead to learning and speech prob-lems.

Concussion Impacts Are Wide-Ranging, Cost Millions

In the United States, more than 300,000 sports-related concussions occur each year and many of the injured are children. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Hu-man Services, between 2001 and 2005, children aged 5 to 18 accounted for nearly 135,000 concussions that required emer-gency room visits.

The economic impact for sports-related concussion hos-pitalizations is significant. A 2008 study from the University of Iowa found that in a 4 year period, the hospital charges related to concussion injuries reached over $30 million. This total did not include doctor’s fees, emergency transportation and rehabilitation costs which can quickly add up.

The best way to treat a con-cussion is to get rest and watch for concussion symptoms and help to manage them. Some symptoms that you may have

are headaches, temporary loss of conscious-ness, confusion, dizziness, vom-iting, fatigue or slurred speech. These symp-toms could be immediate or could take a while to show up.

If you are in sports and suffer a concussion, you should not play until you have been evalu-ated or cleared by a qualified medical professional. Athletes should also not have physical activity until all of their symp-

toms are gone. Once all of their symptoms are gone they can start practicing and playing in games again.

If adults and kids have suf-fered from a concussion, they might have to miss school or work or even scheduled events to rest their brain. For adults,

it’s not good to miss a lot of work. They would not get a paycheck and that could hurt their family and jobs.

Injury to a child’s brain can also lead to many long term health concerns.

http://www.ahrq.gov contrib-uted to this report

Concussion Awareness, Care Key For Student Health

A Football Coach, a Nurse, and a Trainer Weigh In

Memory loss and confusion are often signs of traumatic brain injury or concussion.Art by Makayla Brainard

Mr. Ruzicka (Head Football Coach)

Q: Are coaches educated about concussions?

A: Yes, to be a head coach you must go to coaching clinics which talk about concussions, take a course online, and you

are always getting information in the mail about concussions.

Q: What procedures do you take if you think someone might have a concussion?

A: First, they won’t play until they have been cleared by a medical official. Second, they go through a series of tests such as a test that all students are required to take. This test and others are just simple memory questions (where are we, how many fingers am I holding up, who are we playing, what are we doing, etc.). Finally, after a medical professional has cleared the player, they can play again.

Q: Are players educated about concussions?

A: Yes, they talk about what they need to do if someone has or thinks they might have a concussion. They are told not to lead with their helmet so they don’t get a direct impact to the head. The players should always use proper form so they don’t use their head to hit someone. Finally, if they don’t feel well they need to talk to a coach right away.

Mrs. Barjenbruch (School Nurse)

Q: How do concussions oc-cur?

A: Concussions happen from blunt force trauma to the head. Ex.: football helmet colliding with another football helmet and anytime your head hits something hard

Q: How urgent are concus-sions?

A: Concussions are extremely urgent especially if the person goes unconscious. The person needs to be seen by a doctor immediately. Scalp or facial

features could be cracked if hit hard and are disoriented.

Q: What are the symptoms of a concussion?

A: Persistent headaches - Poor attention and concentration - Difficulty “thinking clearly” - Frequent fatigue or feelings of “being tired” - Anxiety and de-pressed mood - Irritability and agitation - Personality changes - Poor frustration tolerance - Ex-perience vision changes blurred

vision light sensitivity - Trouble sleeping, or wanting to sleep all the time

Athletic Trainer Amanda Schneider, MS, LAT, ATC

Q: Is there special equipment to treat a concussion if so what?

A: There really isn’t special equipment for a concussion, but there are a couple of tests:

IMPACT-computerized test involving memory usage (take once before concussion then

again if a concussion is pos-sible)

Balance and Eyes- check how balance is and what eyes look like

Q: What should you do if you think have a concussion?

A: Tell a coach, nurse, athletic trainer, or doctor immediately. Don’t play sports until a medi-cal professional has cleared you to play. Finally, get proper treat-ment so it doesn’t get worse.

Q: Does a concussion affect a person long term?

A: Yes, repetitive concussions can lead to long term memory loss especially if you don’t get proper treatment. Concussions can also lead to mental prob-lems such as Alzheimer’s symp-toms. So you should get medi-cal help so concussions won’t cause problems in the future.

Above: Recent studies have indicated that counter to the long-accepted view that boys’ sports are more dangerous, girls are actually more susceptible to concussion due to having thinner necks. Photos by Heather Cleary.Below: Freshman Sonny Lodl at a recent football game. Some across the coun-try say freshmen are too young for football. Photo by Micah Schut

We’ve all heard the hype about concussions and what they do and how we can prevent them. Usually, this is stressed more with boys but recent stud-ies show that girls are actually more prone to concussions.

To come to this conclusion, researchers looked at the girls’ and boys’ sports of soccer and basketball. While football still accounts for most concus-sions, a study found that high school girl soccer players were 64 percent more likely to get a concussion than boys soccer

players.It also found that girls are 300

percent more likely to sustain a concussion in basketball. It was also concluded that girls have more symptoms of greater se-verity after suffering a concus-sion. Girls also take longer to recover and return to their sport.

Why concussion rates are higher and symptoms are more severe in girls is unclear. Part of it could be in anatomy. Girls’ neck muscles aren’t as devel-oped as boys’, which makes them less effective at absorb-ing the shock of impact. Girls’ heads are also smaller which may put them at higher risk. Their hormones, metabolism, and cerebral blood flow are also possible factors.

Girls Face Higher Concussion Risks, More Severe Symptoms

Anatomy might not be com-pletely to blame, though. Girls may just be more honest about post-concussion symptoms. The fact that society is more protec-tive over female athletes may also play a role. There is also a difference in training between boys and girls. Some suggest that girls are not as accustomed to getting hit so they aren’t as prepared to handle contact.

This goes to show that every-one needs to be educated about concussions. In the past, most of the focus has been on boys, since their sports are notorious-ly more physically rough. In all reality, though, concussions can happen to anyone, boy or girl, and that they do happen to girls more than people realize.

A Trojan Personal Story: Corey Niewohner

I interviewed Corey Niewohner and asked him what it felt like to get a concussion. He said it hurt a lot and it gave him a massive headache. Some of the signs that you might have a concussion are dizziness or fuzziness; other things are con-fusion and not knowing where

you are, or what day it is. I asked Corey how he realized

when he had a concussion and he said that he couldn’t remem-ber if he realized that he had a concussion or not. One way to find out if you have a concus-sion if there are no easily visible signs includes making a pattern with your fingers and seeing if the person can follow your fingers. If they can’t, they prob-ably have a concussion

Corey also said that it was kind of scary going to sleep

because he didn’t know if he was going to wake up in the morning.

At our school we have a pol-icy that if you get a concussion you can’t play or practice fully until 5-7 days after symptoms.

Junior Corey Niewohner has experienced concussions first hand. Trojan Times staff photo.