Contents:
- Medical Video: Epic Exercise Ball Fails || FailArmy
- What is a head injury?
- The two most common types of brain injury
- 1. Concussion
- 2. Brain bruising
- What are the signs and symptoms of traumatic head injury?
- How do you deal with head injuries while exercising?
- How do you prevent head injuries while exercising?
Medical Video: Epic Exercise Ball Fails || FailArmy
For most people, head clash is considered a reasonable risk, especially if it occurs in a physical contact sport. But injuries can also occur in other types of recreational activities. A cheerleader can fall and hit his head when maneuvering. People who are cycling or skateboarding can lose control and fall on the sidewalk.
Head injuries are very dangerous. Many head injuries associated with exercise cause permanent disability, brain damage, or even more fatal. Traumatic brain injury is the main cause of death in accidents associated with sports.
What is a head injury?
Head injuries are injuries that occur in the scalp, skull, or brain caused by trauma. Concussions and brain bruising are the two most common types of sports-related brain injuries. According to the Brain Injury Association of America, the five main activities responsible for concussions in children and adolescents aged 5 to 18 include cycling, basketball, accidents in playgrounds, and soccer.
The two most common types of brain injury
1. Concussion
Concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury that occurs when the brain jerks or is shaken hard enough to hit the skull wall. This can happen when two athletes collide with each other or when someone falls and stumbles on his head. Concussion can also occur as a result of head blows from blunt objects or sports equipment. In football, heading the ball is not separated from the risk of concussion.
But you don't have to experience a collision in the head to experience a concussion. Violent collisions elsewhere in the body can create a whip style that is strong enough to shake the brain.
Concussion causes changes in a person's mental status and can interfere with the normal functioning of the brain.
READ ALSO: Recognizing Whiplash, Post-Injury Neck Injury
2. Brain bruising
Brain bruising is bruising due to bleeding that settles abnormally outside the blood vessels and freezes, resulting in swelling. Cracked skull is another type of head injury that can affect the brain. If you experience a skull fracture, small fragments of the skull can pierce the bones and cause bleeding. Injuries like this destroy, tear, and shift fine brain tissue. Penetrating brain injury is the most life threatening, and the most fatal type of any type of brain injury.
All types of brain injuries are unique events. The brain can accept several types of injuries depending on the type and how strong the blow is received by the head. One particular type of head injury can affect only one functional area of the brain, including other areas around the impact area, or all areas of the brain.
What are the signs and symptoms of traumatic head injury?
Depending on the type of punch and its severity, brain injuries due to head collisions range from mild to severe. Classic signs and symptoms of concussion, including:
- Confusion
- Depression
- Dizziness or balance problems
- Double or blurred vision
- Feeling dizzy, unsteady, staggering
- Fatigue
- Headache
- Memory loss
- Nausea
- Sensitivity to sound or light
- Hard to sleep
- Difficulty concentrating and remembering
- CT Scan or MRI of the brain looks normal
READ ALSO: Recognize Brain Concussion Symptoms in Children
Mild traumatic brain injury is only diagnosed when there is a change in mental status (loss of consciousness, dumbfounded, confusion) when an injury occurs. Indications that head injuries are more serious than concussions and needing emergency care include:
- Change in pupil size
- Clear liquid or blood from the nose, mouth or ears
- Seizures
- Face features change
- Bruises on the face
- Crack of skull or face
- Hearing damage, smell, taste and vision
- Unwillingness to move one or more limbs (hands, feet, neck)
- Easy to get angry
- Dizzy
- Lost consciousness (can be very short, a few seconds to minutes, or hours)
- Low breathing rate
- Restless, careless, coordinating limbs falling apart
- Severe headache
- Speak slurred or blurred vision
- The neck feels stiff or vomits
- Symptoms (whatever) get worse after the initial recovery
- Swelling in the area of impact
- Consistent vomiting
You don't always have to lose consciousness when experiencing a concussion. Effects may also be seen immediately, or they may not appear for hours or even days later.
Concussion can have serious and long-term health effects, and even a slight bump on the head from a slight impact can be serious - affecting thinking, sensation, language, or emotion. Brain injury can also cause epilepsy and increase the risk for conditions such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and other brain disorders that are becoming more common with increasing age.
How do you deal with head injuries while exercising?
Getting medical attention as soon as possible is important for any type of potentially moderate to severe injury. Injuries that are undiagnosed and do not receive proper treatment can cause disability and long-term damage. Keep in mind that although deaths from sports injuries are rare, brain injury is the leading cause of death associated with sports.
If you think you might experience a concussion or suspect that someone else is experiencing it, the most important step to take is to prevent further injury. Stop whatever activity you are in and tell others that you might have been hurt. Then get medical attention. If you play as part of a team, ask to be taken out of the field and tell the referee / coach what happened. If fellow players have signs such as confusion or sudden loss of coordination, be sure to report this to the coach.
READ ALSO: First Aid Overcoming Open Bones
If your doctor sends you home with someone who is injured, your doctor will instruct you to watch him closely. This might involve waking the person every few hours to ask questions like "What's your name?" Or "Where are you now?" To make sure the person is fine. Make sure you have asked the doctor and understand what symptoms should be considered and which ones need immediate attention.
How do you prevent head injuries while exercising?
The most important step to do is to buy and use the right headgear and have been approved by SNI. Be sure to buy the right size to fit your body and wear a helmet or headgear that is right in accordance with the sport being played. Follow the rules of play for each sport.
Other important security measures include:
- Wear clothes that reflect light when cycling at night.
- Don't dive in water less than 4 meters deep or in a body of water where you can't see the bottom, or in cloudy water.
- Ensure that the children's play area and equipment are safe and in good condition.
- Do not let children play sports that are not appropriate for their age.
- Supervise and teach children how to properly use sports equipment.
- Don't wear clothes that block vision.
- Follow all rules in the water park and swimming pool.
- Don't play skateboards or bicycles on uneven or unpaved surfaces.
- Don't play sports when you are tired or sick.
Sports carry risks, but they also come with a myriad of benefits such as fitness, good health, confidence, friendship, and sportsmanship. You only need to play safely.
