I mentioned the Concussion Symposium I attended last week at Western University where a whole parade of super smart researchers and doctors (including Dr. Robert Cantu) delivered a state of the union on concussion diagnosis and management.
Before I give you a copy of my notes from the day I also want to offer you a way to improve your game AND donate to a great cause. I took the ALS Bucket Challenge as many of you have. I also made a donation to ALS research and I would like to give you the chance to do the same, so here is what I am going to do…
For the next 48 hours – – 100% of the proceeds from ALL new training program sales will go directly to ALS research. So if you have been thinking of getting a program, now is a good time to help your game AND help find better treatments for ALS.
Programs For Skaters And Goalies CLICK ==> HERE.
If you cannot see the video in the player above, just click this link
http://youtu.be/aXiygsJAuBI
Okay, now onto the concussion stuff…
- Athletes who had concussions had more than 3x great risk of muscle or ligament injury in the aftermath
- 50% of Second Impact Syndrome casualties die and the survivors rarely recover fully – highest incidence of SIS in athletes under 18 years of age
- Physical and cognitive rest is still the first step in management
- 60-75% of trauma occurs in practice – – to the point where the NFL will only allow 14 full contact practices during the entire 18-week season (and none at all in the off-season)
- There was a relationship between age of first exposure to tackle football and later life cognitive, emotional symptoms – kids who started after the age of 15 did significantly better
- Athletes with three or more concussions have 3x greater risk for depression later in life
- If symptoms persist beyond 3-4 weeks, physiotherapy and supervised exercise may have benefits
- Still no reliable methods to determine severity, recovery, safe return to play, long term impairment
- Helmets protect against lacerations, not concussion
So that all looks a little bleak doesn’t it? Now here are the positives…
- No one was saying kids should not play sport, we just need to find some ways to make it safer for them
- Most athletes will have a very good outcome when they seek treatment from a knowledgeable, experienced practitioner. If you weren’t sure whether or not you had broken your leg, you would go see a doctor just to make sure, same should go for your brain health, but unfortunately there are still doctors out there who do not understand concussion, so you need to find someone with expertise.
- Head blows are not funny – we grimace when we see a replay of Joe Theismann (dating myself), we should do the same when we see a vicious hit on the ice.
Catch you later – I will tell you about my day at the BioSteel Pro #CAMP in Toronto yesterday and which NHL’er had the sweetest car in the parking lot and who really stood out with their wicked hands on the ice.
Have an awesome day!
M
PS – remember all proceeds from new product sales will go straight to ALS research for the next 48 hours – so until 7:15am ET on Saturday morning. Check out your training program options HERE