Concussions on the rise

FINDLAY — Concussions are on the rise, says Blanchard Valley Hospital primary care and sports medicine physician Dr. Michael Stump, a phenomenon he believes can be attributed to increased awareness of the injury and its symptoms. "If we look at statistics, the incidence of concussions has been increasing over time … I think it's that we're more aware of them," Stump said. Once a high school athlete himself, he said coaches and parents haven't always taken concussions or other sports injuries as seriously. "When I was growing up and you got a head injury, you were dizzy for a bit, saw stars, you were told to take deep breaths and get back in … That wouldn't be an appropriate recommendation now," he said. A concussion is, according to the Cleveland Clinic, a type of traumatic brain injury that happens when the brain twists or moves in the skull, often caused by getting hit in the head, neck or body. This injury can be caused by sports accidents, car accidents or physical violence, among other reasons. Symptoms can include head and neck pain, balance problems, photophobia and loss of consciousness or confusion. Stump compares a concussion to loose wires in an electrical connection — a concussion is a miscommunication in the brain at the cellular level that will resolve with treatment. "Concussions are temporary," Stump said. "Almost everyone gets better with time, but it does take time." Despite an increased number of concussions in recent years, Stump believes organized sports like football may actually be getting safer, for a number of reasons including more offseason conditioning instead of players going "zero to 120" once August rolls around. Other ways to help prevent sports injuries like concussions, according to Stump, include staying healthy with proper nutrition and hydration, wearing proper gear like helmets and mouth guards and participating in different activities. Stump said it's important to take a break from time to time to help prevent injury and burnout. His reasoning, he explains, is that if athletes only participate in one sport, enthusiasm wanes, the athlete doesn't train as hard and injuries become more likely. Emotional burnout from the activity also becomes more likely. "There've been recent studies where they looked at draft picks of the MLB, NFL and NBA. They saw that the vast majority of those players played at least two and often three sports in high school," he said. "Studies have shown that if an athlete starts at a young age and only specializes in one sport and does that sport only … they're actually less likely to be successful at the collegiate or professional level of that sport." After being injured as a high school athlete himself, Stump talked of meeting doctors that didn't understand the athlete's mentality. While an athlete may want to just keep playing through the pain of an injury, Stump reminds that it's important to be honest about the symptoms. Receiving treatment for the injury will enable the athlete to return to the game sooner and will keep the injury from getting worse. Bringing an understanding of what it means to be an athlete into his medical practice, Stump said his favorite part of his job is being able to help athletes return to the field. "It's gratifying to be able to get people back to doing the activities that they want to do," he said.