Allow ample recovery time for sports-related head injuries

Head injuries sustained while playing sports are, unfortunately, not a new phenomenon. Our response to these injuries has changed over the years, however. Two or three decades ago, standard procedure was to put someone back into the game as soon as he or she felt physically able to play. That’s no longer the case. As our knowledge about head injury has increased, we know brain trauma can be cumulative, and once injured, the brain becomes more susceptible to further, more serious, injury. A blow or jolt to the head can cause the brain to move inside the skull. This, in turn, causes injury to the brain tissue and is normally called a concussion or closed head injury.

By: Jessica Woodward, M.D., Pine Journal