Head Injuries in Sports
A penetrating or an open head injury refers to the damage being caused due to the hitting of an object which enters the brain upon breaking the skull. It occurs due to high movement with speed, for instance, getting smashed on ground due to accident in sports car racing. The usual head injury other than sports can also result from getting smashed with the windshield of a car or getting head hurt from a gunshot. Whereas, a closed head injury refers to getting the head being hurt from a hard blow incase of colliding with an object or a wooden block such as in fighting, boxing, wrestling, but the skull remains safe and does not get break from the hitting of an object.
The most commonly recognized brain injuries include Concussion which shakes the brain and is known as the usual kind of traumatic brain injury Contusion that is bruise on brain Subdural hematoma and Subarachnoid hemorrhage (Cantu).
Considerations
The head injuries are faced by millions of people every year while playing sports. A considerable protection is provided to the brain by the skills which results in most of the occurred injuries to be minor in nature. Athletes face thousands of head injuries while playing sports which become very serious and therefore, needs intensive treatment in hospitals. The life of athletes suffering head injuries could be saved by means of recognizing and learning a severe head injury and by providing necessary first aid treatment. It has also been observed that athletic patients often suffer injuries in other organic systems due to severe head injuries. For instance, a spinal injury is sometimes accompanied with a head injury (Dvorak et al.).
Causes
The most commonly recognized causes of head injures occurred in sports include falling, smashing and physical assaulting while fighting, boxing, wrestling, etc. The non-reversible brain damage or prolonged are caused as a result of some head injuries which occurs due to continuous bleeding in the brain and sometimes, also occurs due to direct damage on the brain. The various causes of severe head injuries include chronic headaches, paralysis, coma, seizures, language and speech problems and change in sensation loss of sensation, vision, hearing, smell or taste (Lindsay et al.).
Signs and Symptoms
The signs and symptoms of head injuries in sports are developed gradually in quite a few hours or days and even occur immediately. Sometimes, no fractured is observed in the skull and the head looks fine but the brain can yet be bruised and get banged from inside due to swelling or bleeding inside the skull which can finally create complications for further treatment and could also be life threatening for an athlete. The actual occurrence of head injury should be found out while encountering an injured athlete for better treatment. If an injured athlete is unable to reply then the clues should be looked on and the witnesses should be questioned for exact happening of head injury. In general, the spinal cord is always assumed to be injured upon facing any severe head trauma (Riemann et al.).
Other than contusion or concussion, the much serious head injury is suggested through the signs and symptoms like unequal size or changes in number of pupils, drainage of fluid from ears, mouth or nose (may be bloody or clear), convulsions, impaired smell, vision, hearing or taste, distorted feature of face, bruising (of the face, fracture in the face, fracture in the skull, scalp wound or swelling at the injury site), difficulty in moving one or more limbs, serious headache, clumsiness or restlessness or lack of coordination, blurred vision or slurred speech, vomiting or stiff neck, drop in blood pressure or low breathing rate, drowsiness, confusion or loss of consciousness, unusual behavior, personality changes or irritability (specifically in children), improvement in symptoms and again sudden worsening of symptoms, change in consciousness (Riemann et al.).
Different Types of Head Injuries in Sports
It is very common for anyone to get a mild bump on head while playing sports. Sometimes, the athletes face such head injuries which lead from mild injury to a serious injury and too results as a life threatening condition. It is very significant to be aware of various types of sports head injuries in order to take immediate action and better cure well on time. The types of head injuries include
Concussion These head injuries are traumatic which results from severe blows as well as mild blows on the head. Including cumulative concussions, such repeated head injuries can lead to long-term and serious effects. Incase of ignoring the symptoms and signs of serious concussions, the risk of other suffering injuries increases like depression and neurological impairment that are perceived very serious head effecting injuries.
Epidural Hematoma This type of head injury causes bleeding between the brain and the skull. It generally results when head lacerates a blood vessel through the impact of occurred injury and finally creates a blood clot between (dura) brains protective covering and the skull. The brain suffers pressure due to increase in the size of a blood clot and an immediate treatment becomes necessary failing which it can lead to ultimate death. The epidural hematoma is very serious and devastating injury which is obvious from the death of an actress Natasha Richardson. It was realized as a mild head injury faced by Richardson due to a skiing accident but later on, resulted in a severe headache and too visualized the symptoms of an epidural hematoma and eventually became the cause of Richardsons demise. This tragic death was an evidence of serious effects of head injury caused in sports and was termed as talk and die syndrome that shows the fine condition of an injured victim and then causes life threatening effects and circumstances.
Skull Fracture The skull fracture results due to the serious impact of head injury that is directly being caused from hitting. The skull fracture caused to an athlete indicates the signs from major head trauma, continuous bleeding, clear fluid draining from nose or ears, bruising around both eyes or bruising behind the ears and thus, needs immediate treatment.
Black Eye A black eye is usually common which occurs from head injury or face injury. The effects of little face injury can lead to a huge, angry-looking shiner. The black eyes are largely and relatively minor bruises which affects in four to five days. These are a general sign and warning of further severe eye, face or head injury.
Whiplash These injuries are also termed as flexion extension neck injury or cervical hyperextension injury. It generally refers to injuries being caused to the necks soft tissues together with the muscles, tendons and ligaments. The stiffness and neck pain are the symptoms of whiplash.
Fractured Jaw An injury occurred on the head or face also results in a disclosed jaw or a broken jaw which is generally called fractured jaw. All the facial injuries as well as head injuries should be cured immediately by treating medical doctor or a first aid personnel which will help in preventing a severe fractured jaw because failing to treat an injury well on time, can lead to a long-term problems (Bailes).
Treatment
The following are the treatment guidelines for curing the head injuries faced by athletes while playing sports
Stop Playing An athlete facing a head injury is required to stop playing the sports which is the first leading guide for treatment and then simply rest for a better provisional cure. An injured athlete should get off the filed in order to evaluate the circumstances for better care.
Get Urgent Medical Attention A phone call should be made immediately to 911 incase of suffering head injury by a person who loses consciousness, drowsiness, bleeding, shows signs of confusion, other unusual behavior, has nausea or head injury symptoms.
Perform Necessary First Aid While awaiting emergency help, the necessary first aid should be performed and immediate assistance should be sought by a person facing a severe head injury and showing any of the aforesaid signs.
Go to the ER, if unsure The head injury should be checked out at an emergency room or at a trauma center if the actual condition of head injury is not examined. The head injury is properly diagnosed through the usage of a head CT scan which examines the actual injury of brain as well as bleeding in the brain.
Watch for an Expected Change Any dramatic change or sudden change in behavior, symptoms or comprehension such as sudden increase in drowsiness, sudden dizziness, sudden headache or mild headache changing or getting suddenly tense, etc. needs urgent medical attention and treatment.
Watch for Delayed Symptoms Sometimes, the head injuries faced by athletes in sports, does not count immediately and start reacting after few hours or may be in some days following the head trauma. Incase of noticing and facing such delayed symptoms like confusion, vomiting, dizziness, headache or loss of coordination, the medical attention and treatment should be sought immediately for better and timely cure to avoid further harmful happening to the injured head.
Pay Close Attention A very keen attention should be given to the head injuries faced by younger athletes such as children or elderly grown because warfarin known as blood thinners, exceeds the pressure of bleeding incase of facing head injuries. The blood thinners can turn and develop a mild head injury into a severe head injury or can cause a major bleeding in head injury (Karen et al.).
Recovery
The recovery of head injuries in sports could be better and possible very sooner upon paying serious attention towards the injured head and upon following the doctors instructions. There are various useful guidelines which help all athletes and their caregivers in quick recovery of head injures on timely manner.
These guidelines include firstly, the head wound should not be washed which is bleeding a lot or is quite deep secondly, the sticking object should not be removed out from a wound thirdly, the injured athlete should not be moved until absolutely necessary fourthly, the alcohol should not be drunk as well as no drugs should be taken unless otherwise prescribed by the doctor or medical practitioner fifthly, the injured athlete should not be shaken incase of an athlete been seemed dazed, sixthly, the sports should not be played and full rest should be taken by the injured athletes and lastly, the injured athlete should not be disturbed incase of suspecting severe head injury (Field et al.).
Additionally, the 911 should be called immediately or a diagnosing doctor should be contacted urgently if an injured athlete faces serious facial bleeding or severe head bleeding or any serious condition like unconsciousness, lethargic, drowsy or confusion is observed in the injured athlete or the breathing is stopped by the injured athlete or a repeated serious head injury is suspected by any means or the injured athlete develops any symptoms or signs of a severe injury occurred in head (Field et al.).
Prevention
The following is a comprehensive guide for better prevention of head injures which are usually faced by numerous athletes while playing sports
Wearing Safety Equipments The required safety equipments (according to the nature of sports) should be worn by every athlete while playing sports for prevention of head injuries. For instance, the sports like cricket, sports car racing and sports motorcycle racing requires helmet to be worn for better safety of head.
Attentiveness Eyes should be opened and mind should be fully attentive while practicing sports motor bicycling at night and clothing should be worn as reflective and bright colored to be visible. It should also have proper flashers and headlamps.
Safety and Security Children as well as athletes should play in a safe and secure place either for practicing or for competition.
Appropriateness and Cautiousness The appropriate car boosters or seating should be used in driving and racing sports car and sports motorbike.
Obedience and Compliance The instructions of sporting coach should be followed while playing sports which saves from head injures and too diminished the causes of head injuries which are likely to be occurred. The rules of games should also be followed.
Avoiding Potential Harms The prediction and likeliness of head injuries resulting from any sports activity should be attentively noticed and advice should be sought from trainers and instructors or from coaches during the course of playing sports.
Avoid Drinking The alcohol should not be drunk in any kind of sport. No participation should be taken with any athlete incase of observing him drunk.
Avoid Drug Addiction The drugs should not be taken while playing sports unless otherwise stated and advised by the doctors (Kelly et al.).
Comparison and Contrast of Articles
The following are the comparison and contrast of different scholarly articles which contains all the aforesaid information
The first article is titled Classification of Sport-Related Head Trauma A Spectrum of Mild to Severe Injury which is written by Bailes et al. It describes the various classifications of sports head injuries such as concussion, epidural hematoma, skull fracture, black eye, whiplash and fractured jaw. A comprehensive explanation is also determined with respective to causes, reasons, treatment and precautionary measures required to avoid such head injuries which are generally occurred while playing sports.
The second article is titled Head Injuries in Sport which is written by Robert Cantu. It contains the information related to commonly head injuries in sports such as concussion, leading causes such intracranial hemorrhage, resulting factors such as disability or death, serious conditions such as diffuse cerebral swelling and guides various useful techniques for playing sports.
The third article is titled Summary and Agreement Statement of the 1st International Symposium on Concussion in Sport, Vienna 2001 which is written by Dvorak et al. It contains the overall consideration related to sport head injuries as well as general information as to how do athletes get mild head injuries and serious head injuries. The athletic related guide with such sport head injuries are too mentioned thereon in the article.
The fourth article is titled Sport and Recreation-Related Head Injuries Treated in the Emergency Department which is written by Karen et al. It contains all the relevant information regarding the treatment of sports head injuries such as stop playing, get urgent medical assistance, perform necessary first aid, go to ER if unsure, watch for an expected change, watch for delayed symptoms and pay close attentions.
The fifth article is titled Serious Head Injury in Sport which is written by Lindsay et al. It discusses the causes of sports head injuries such as coma, paralysis, seizures, chronic headaches, etc. The major occurrences of head injuries are also explained such as non-reversible brain damage or prolonged which results due to bleeding or are caused due to bleeding.
The sixth article is titled Effects of Mild Head Injury on Postural Stability as Measured through Clinical Balance Testing which is written by Riemann et al. It describes the various signs and symptoms of sport head injuries such as convulsions, impaired smell vision hearing or taste, distorted feature of face, blurred vision or slurred speech, vomiting or stiff neck, drop in blood pressure, low breathing rate, etc.
The seventh article is titled Does Age Play a Role in Recovery from Sports-Related Concussion A Comparison of High School and Collegiate Athletes which is written by Field et al. It describes the various measures for prompt recovery of sport head injuries that helps an athlete to get back in good performance in order to practice and play sports again with care.
The eighth article is titled Guidelines for the Prevention of Catastrophic Outcome which is written by Kelly et al. It describes the useful techniques for the prevention of sport head injuries such as wearing safety equipments, keeping eyes open while playing, choosing save and secure location for playing sports, complying coachs instructions, not playing at night, etc.
The ninth article is titled The Second Impact in Catastrophic Contact-Sports Head Traums which is written by Saunders et al. It explains the overall occurrence of sport head injuries and too provides a comprehensive guide for avoiding such head injuries which are generally occurred while playing sports.
The tenth article is titled Return to Play Guidelines after a Head Injury which is written by Robert Cantu. It describes the general guidelines for injured athletes who join their sports team upon their return from suffering head injuries. It explains the way of caring and perceiving the affects and nature of injuries being occurred during sports practicing and playing.
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