Checking for Concussions

(taken from Soccer Coach Mailing List)


There was a very helpful article in today's Wall Street Journal on insuring that players who have taken a hard hit are able to return to the field. The advice is:

  1. If the player loses consciousness, even briefly, they should be sent to the hospital for an evaluation.
  2. If the player is merely woozy after a hard hit, then the player should sit out for awhile. During that time, you need to do the following tests:

    1. Exercise test - If they cannot do 5 pushups without feeling woozy, then they are out for the game.
    2. Immediate past memory - Ask them to describe what just occurred in the game before the hit. If they don't remember, they flunk.
    3. Current thinking - Ask them to count backwards by 7s (with smaller ones, maybe something easier). If they cannot, they flunk.

    4. Ability to retain new memories - Ask them to remember 3 random words (e.g., apple, car, Cleveland). If they cannot, they flunk.



This is important info. Each year, several players in various sports die after second-impact concussions. The second-impact doesn't have to be the same day, or even the same week. Apparently, as long as the player is unable to perform each of these types of tests, there is still some brain injury which needs healing.

Watch out carefully for nausea, dizziness, headaches, confusion, or vision changes. Make sure that the kiddo stays out until all of these symptoms have passed AND they can pass the above tests.




Concussions are not an injury to fool around with. Guidelines are becoming more and more strict as to the advisability to go back to playing after getting your "bell rung." There are a few very good articles on the topic on the web.


For a more through coverage regarding problems with mental processes after concussions (I think it is the source of much of the WSJ's article.) look to the Physicians and Sportsmedicine page (http://www.physsportsmed.com/) for:

Managing Successive Minor Head
Injuries: Which Tests Guide Return to Play?

Margot Putukian, MD; Ruben J. Echemendia, PhD
THE PHYSICIAN AND SPORTSMEDICINE - VOL 24 - NO. 11 - NOVEMBER 96


In a series of two articles covering different reasons not to allow athletes to participate in sporting activity, the second (same website) has a good coverage of concussions:

Contraindications to Athletic
Participation: Cardiac, Respiratory, and Central Nervous System Conditions

James L. Moeller, MD
THE PHYSICIAN AND SPORTSMEDICINE - VOL 24 - NO. 8 - AUGUST 96


And for the man-o-man bring along to your doctor coverage, see:

Guidelines for Managing Concussion in
Sports: A Persistent Headache

Robert Roos, M.D.
THE PHYSICIAN AND SPORTSMEDICINE - VOL 24 - NO. 10 - OCTOBER 96

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