Insurance Resources: A Parent's Guide to Concussions
The decision for a parent to allow their child to play a sport is an important decision, and the results could have an impact on the rest of the child's life. 
Participating in a team or competitive individual sport can provide the child with goals, finding ways to achieve goals, working with others and other life lessons that will serve them in their later lives. Recently, contact sports such as football, soccer, ice hockey and others have seen an increase in the number of concussions that occur on the field of play. As a parent it is important to understand what concussions are, treatment and prevention options that are available, so that we can make an important decision on allowing our children to participate.
In everyday life people take a certain amount of risk. From crossing the street in traffic to participating in dangerous activities, please put themselves at risk. The amount of risk is up to the individuals, or to the parents of younger children. While sports or other and other activities involve a certain amount of risk, the vast majority of time, games and events take place without incident.
Contact in sports is a normal part of the game. In every football play there are players blocking and tackling each other, in soccer you have incidental contact with the head, foot or body of other players and in ice hockey, checking players to get the puck away is an essential part of the game. When done properly, these are normal plays which don't cause injury. However, once in a while, mistakes happen where contact is made to a player's head, which can result in the player getting a concussion.
A concussion is defined as an injury that occurs to the brain because of a blow to the head. The concussion occurs when the head stops suddenly causing the brain to hit the wall of the head. The result of the contact generally causes swelling on the brain. While concussions are not life threatening, the contact and trauma to the brain can cause health issues such as headaches, blurred vision, loss of memory and nausea. These symptoms can last as little as a couple of days to several weeks.
Because the injury occurs to the brain, treatment is limited to the symptoms. Pain reliever for headaches and something to ease the effects of nausea are the most you can do for a concussion. The main way to treat the concussion would be for rest to allow the brain to heal. During the period of rest, the child needs to make sure that they do not play games or practice so that they do not hit their heads and make the injury worse.
With the worries about concussions, one of the most important aspects would be prevention of concussions. Concussions and head injuries have been shown to lead to long-term problems with memory loss, behavior changes and other serious issues. To prevent concussions, athletic supply companies have begun improving equipment to make it safer for players.
As a parent, we do everything we can to prevent children from injury and preventing concussions is another way to keep them from injury. However, it is important to allow our children to participate in sports and other athletic competitions to help grow as a person. To learn more about concussions, we have assembled a collection of resources:
While concussions have been a part of sports for several decades, it is only recently that doctors and other researchers have started to learn more about the long-term effects of getting concussions. From the old-time of "having your bell rung" to today's concern over long-term effects of having a concussion, we have become more educated. However, we still have a long way to go. Identifying the signs and treating head injuries have become a big problem for athletes of all ages. But the most important part of identifying and treating concussion patients is to have the victim be honest about the existence of symptoms and when they are symptom free. If an athlete, regardless of age and experience, goes back to playing too early and receives another hit to the head, this could cause permanent damage, since the brain did not have a chance to heal.
Hopefully, with continued education of parents, players and coaches, players will not be able to play before they have fully healed. However, only time will tell whether this is successful.
