Injuries and illness in sports

Injuries and illness in sports

In every sport or physical activity, athletes and those involved are posed with a high risk of injuries. Injuries not only occur during official games or matches but also athletic training. Although the type of damages may differ depending on the intensity and nature of the game, concussions are the commonly reported type of damages (Broglio et al., 2014). Concussions are considered a mild traumatic brain injury and may go unreported in most cases. However, the effects are noticeable. With regards to the National Athletic Trainer’s Association, this summary report entails points on how they occur, treatment methods as well as preventive measures, ultimately improving the health and general wellbeing of an athlete.

Occurrence, Symptoms, and Effects

A concussion is a traumatic alteration that occurs in the brain and is capable of causing loss of consciousness. It occurs when forces acting on the skull, such as a collision between athletes or an object, create a fast accelerating or decelerating effect on the brain. Such forces cause alteration of the brain’s chemical composition and may require a few days to stabilize back to normal. As a result, some patients may lose consciousness. Patients who do not suffer unconsciousness may reports symptoms such as headaches, coordination and balance problems, difficulty in thinking and concentrating, amnesia, or confusion. These symptoms, however, may be assumed to being standard cases rather than a concussion. Therefore, a coach or athlete nurse has to gauge whether the individual may or may not have suffered a concussion..

To avoid a misdiagnosis, it is important to examine an individual who may have collided with an object or another individual. This is important because cases of losing consciousness are rare, and if such an occurrence is ignored, it may result in terminal illness. It is advisable that an athlete that may have had a head injury be followed up for a few days, given that the concussion symptoms may take longer to show, thus causing a misdiagnosis. According to research, there are more reported cases of concussions in female than in male individuals. Though no scientific facts are supporting this record, it is assumed that this occurs because females have softer spots on the skull, thus the vulnerability.

Effects

Epilepsy is the most common effect followed by multiple brain injuries and, in rare cases, death. Death may occur when there was a case of misdiagnosis, and chemical imbalance in a vital brain organ may have occurred due to the impact.

Prevention measures

It is advisable to wear protective headgear during training or other recreational activities. However, to ensure the speeds are helpful, the athletes should wear them in the correct way. Right quality products should be used, and high maintenance practiced to ensure they remain in good working condition for longer.

It is also essential to promote public education. Once people can understand the condition, it becomes easy to prevent, diagnose, and treat. It will also be easy to follow up with a medical expert.

Conclusion

Accidents and injuries are common in the field, and thus it is vital always to be prepared. For athletes to avoid serious concussion effects, it is advisable that any head collision, be it major or minor, be reported to the medical personnel in charge of the team. This way, proper diagnosis and follow up will be done on the patient. It is also essential that every team has a readily available medical expert who is well informed of the common injuries that occur in fields and has the capacity to deal with them.