Consequences of Concussions
Submitted by on October 5, 2009 - 3:26pm.
Fall is here, and with it comes a new school year with football and soccer being the primary sports being played. These sports carry the risk of injury-- particularly head trauma. Concern amongst parents and health officials has grown over the last few years with the raised awareness of the dangers of head trauma, which often occurs even when consiousness is maintained. Every year in the United States there are 1.5 million traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). That’s one every 23 seconds. To put that in perspective, HIV infections are diagnosed in the US at the rate of one every nine minutes![1],[2]
About half of all TBIs are sports related. Lingering problems such as depression, anxiety, insomnia, and poor concentration are common after a TBI, and the long-term effects of cumulative minor head injuries can be extreme, as Michael Silver points out in his article about traumatic brain injury in NFL players. In fact, the NFL released a report last week that showed that there was a nineteen-fold increase of Alzheimer’s amongst its players![3] Most of these players had had head injuries during high school and college football, where head injuries are more common. High school players are at triple the risk of head injury than college players. A simple whiplash injury during a car accident may cause a brain imbalance that can have negative effects for years.
The good news is that treatments do exist to help people remove these effects. Neurofeedback, particularly combined with other naturopathic modalities, has been shown to be highly effective in treating post-concussive syndrome. Neurofeedback is a form of biofeedback that assists the brain in healing and re-establishing connections within itself. Several studies have shown its efficacy in treatment of traumatic brain injury but also anxiety, insomnia, depression, and ADHD. [4], [5]. Dr. Gil Winkelman works with athletes, veterans, and others to treat TBI and its after effects. His training as a psychotherapist is invaluable in assessing TBI and differentiating from other causes of anxiety, depression, insomnia and additional sequelae of TBI.
If you or someone you know has had head trauma, however mild, make sure that they seek some treatment or evaluation before it gets worse. The effects of injury may take up to 18 months to appear and then be misdiagnosed. If a person shows signs of anxiety, depression or fatigue, or is just are not doing as well in school, have him or her checked for the lingering effects of the injury. In many cases, people either don’t remember the injury or downplay its severity. Just because they seem fine, doesn't mean that they are. Even if the injury happened a long time ago, it is still possible that current health issues could be related to the injury and should be treated as such in order to resolve all health imbalances effectively.
[1] CDC statistics 2007: http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/tbi/TBI.htm
[2] http://www.cdc.gov/NCIPC/tbi/FactSheets/Concussion_in_Sports_factsheet.pdf
[3]Swenson DM et al. American Journal of Sports Medicine2009 Aug; 37(8): 1586-93
[4] http://www.internationalbrain.org/?q=node/88
[5] Flexyx Neurotherapy System in the Treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury: An Initial Evaluation." Schoenberger, N., Shiflett, S., Esty, M.L., Ochs, L., Matheis, R.J. The Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation. Vol.16, # 3. pp. 260 - 274. June 2001.
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