By William P. Meehan III, MD, director of the Micheli Center for Sports Injury Prevention, director of the Sports Concussion Clinic and director of Research for the Brain Injury Center at Children’s Hospital Boston. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Football League and the Center for the Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology. Meehan is author of the book Kids, Sports, and Concussion: A Guide for Coaches and Parents.
On June 6, 2011, the Boston Bruins were playing the Vancouver Canucks in game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals. Bruins forward Nathan Horton had passed the puck to his teammate Milan Lucic when he was blindsided by the Canucks’s Aaron Rome, who buried his left shoulder into Horton’s face. Horton’s head was spun backwards, down towards the ice. The back of his head was the first part of his body to make contact with the ice. He was knocked unconscious. His arms became rigid. His eyes rolled back in his head. He had a convulsion.
Nathan Horton was concussed.
Concussion is all too common in sports, particularly those, like ice hockey, that involve body-to-body collisions. Yet it’s still somewhat of a medical mystery. Until the last 10 to 15 years, most medical professionals didn’t think concussions posed enough risk to warrant much research. Thus, we know very little about it today.
Although the signs and symptoms of a concussion can be serious, as seen in the case of Nathan Horton, it can be hard to see them when you look at images of concussed brains; CT scans and MRIs often don’t clearly show how a concussed brain has been injured. There’s no bruising, no bleeding and no swelling. Full story »
Many athletes think they’ll never make it to the big league unless they’re willing to play hard and take a few knocks on the field. But does playing hard mean that they should play hurt—especially if they’ve had a blow to the head?
Last week, Massachusetts lawmakers proposed a new state bill aimed at minimizing concussion injuries in youth athletes that would force coaches, trainers, parent volunteers and others affiliated with school athletic programs to be trained in recognizing potentially concussed athletes. The bill would also require physician authorization in order for an athlete to return to competition post-concussion.
