16/10/2022
I was asked to chair an interesting discussion on concussion, given by South African physiotherapist Megyn Robertson, at the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists conference 2022 and thought that it would be nice to share some info and links to anyone who is involved in contact sport, including players, coaches and family.
There has been a lot of media attention on concussion over the last few years, highlighting the long term affects and health issues that relate to athletes who have suffered from multiple concussions in their careers. Sporting organisations both in Ireland and globally have heightened the awareness of concussion within their sports and have produced guidelines and initiatives to train and inform coaches and players to spot concussion on the field so as to protect the players welfare and to remove them from the game safely.
The IRFU and GAA have both produced some very good concussion guidelines and toolkits for teams:
https://d19fc3vd0ojo3m.cloudfront.net/irfu/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/30172053/IRFU-Concussion-Brochure-2018.pdf
https://d19fc3vd0ojo3m.cloudfront.net/irfu/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/30172828/IRFU-Concussion-Wallet.pdf
https://learning.gaa.ie/sites/default/files/Concussion-Information-for-oaches%20%26%20Parents%20of%20Young%20Players%20%28Age%205-18%29%202018.pdf
https://learning.gaa.ie/sites/default/files/Concussion-Information-for%20Adult%20Players%202018.pdf
Concussion is a traumatic brain injury that is caused by a direct force to the head or a force elsewhere in the body which is transmitted to the head. Concussion results in a temporary impairment of brain function, symptoms can evolve over a number of minutes to hours. In 90% of concussions there is actually no loss of consciousness, with the result that almost half of all concussions go unidentified or undiagnosed.
Concussion signs and symptoms are broad and can include:
• Headaches
• dizziness
• gait and balance disturbances
• nausea
• vomiting
• sensitivity to light and sound
• fatigue
A person who is suffering from concussion may have slowed mental processing, poor concentration, irritability and memory impairment.
80% of people who have suffered a concussion recover fully in 10-14 days. Some people can have persistent symptoms. Sometimes concussive type of symptoms of headaches, dizziness, vertigo and visual sensitivity, can be caused by the whiplash injury to the neck that was sustained during the concussion. A physiotherapist is able to treat these symptoms very successfully and thus allow the player to recover from the other concussive symptoms more comfortably.
We need to protect our players welfare, in particular our young athletes who’s brains are not fully developed, and to understand that concussion is a serious injury that needs to be managed appropriately.
Here are some highlights from the gradual return to play guidelines for young players from the IRFU:
• International guidelines stress the importance of an initial rest period of 24-48 hours for the player who has suffered a concussion, both mental and physical rest, which means that the player who is showing any signs of concussion will have to take a day off school/college or work.
• Prolonged rest is not encouraged.
• A young player should return to learn (school) before they return to play.
• Over the next 14 days the young athlete can start to perform gentle exercise, gradually increasing the time and intensity, that does not cause any concussion type of symptoms.
• If they do experience even mild symptoms, a short rest period is advised to settle symptoms and then the gradual return to activity can start again from the beginning.
• If they have successfully progressed their exercise levels and are symptom free, the young player can return to contact training after 21 days, if they have been cleared medically.
