Concussion in winter sports: Protecting your kids
Monday, January 17, 2011 at 20:44 There’s been a lot in the news lately about the often unrecognized dangers of concussion injuries among kids who participate in sports like football. With winter here, there’s as much potential for traumatic brain injury while participating in winter sports like hockey, skiing and snowboarding.
Click on the image to redirect to site and view this videoKids will be kids, and that sometimes means they are not practicing their sport with prevention in mind.
The more you know about concussion - how to prevent it, what to look for, and what to do about it - you can help your kids have a safe time in the outdoors. You can start by implementing a Not An Option helmet rule.
-maven
The following is from the Centers for Disease Control:
Each winter, hundreds of thousands of young athletes head out to ice and ski slopes to enjoy, practice, and compete in a wide variety of winter sports. There’s no doubt that these sports are a great way for kids and teens to stay healthy, as well as learn important leadership and team-building skills. But there are risks to pushing the limits of speed, strength and endurance. And athletes who push the limits sometimes don’t recognize their own limitations—especially when they’ve had a concussion.
A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury—or TBI—caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or by a hit to the body that causes the head and brain to move rapidly back and forth. This sudden movement can cause the brain to bounce around or twist in the skull, stretching and damaging the brain cells and creating chemical changes in the brain.
While most athletes with a concussion recover quickly and fully, some will have symptoms that last for days, or even weeks. A more serious concussion can last for months or longer.