Girls Get Concussions, Too By Ed B Kravitz

A concussion refers to a brain injury that results from hard blows to the head or sudden/ intense body shaking that moves the neck and the head roughly. Concussions can happen to both males and females, especially those participating in violent activities such as sport and gymnastics. Motor accidents, falls, close-by explosions and sudden body movements comprise other factors that cause concussions. Concussion denotes a head injury and other terms used to refer to the same include mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI), minor brain trauma (MBT), mild head injury (MHI), mild head trauma (MHT) and mild brain injury (MBI) among other names. Adequate treatment and return-to-play rely on appropriate diagnosis.

Symptoms and diagnosis

Immediate and short term effects of an MTBI may include visible head injuries (wounds, scratches, cranial cracks and bleeding), consciousness loss, headaches, blurred or double vision, nausea, vomiting, tinnitus (ringing in the ears), emotional outbursts, sleeping disorders, amnesia and behavior change. These signs help in the diagnosis of an MHI, but their absence, after a head trauma, does not mean absence of an MTBI. Further brain injury diagnoses tests include assessment of a person's consciousness, his/ her breathing and eye functioning as well as a head scan. Long term effects of a concussion, which may result from inappropriate treatment of initial trauma or recurrent brain injuries, may include recurrent amnesia, dementia, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Mental breakdown, mostly, worsens with age advancement.

Female Vs Male Concussions

Several studies show that females suffer more concussions than males. The researches also show that females suffer mild head injuries symptoms longer than males. While those results are not conclusive, experts believe in some theories that explain this phenomenon.

Anatomy

Women have smaller and weaker necks than men. The neck absorbs blows to the head and the weaker the neck, the more impact of the blow the head receives. In addition to a smaller and weaker neck, women have smaller heads and less hard skull; making a similar magnitude of a blow, on a male head, harder on a female head, hence more damage.

Frequent reporting

Women report head injuries, and other accidents, more frequently than men. They, thus, get early diagnoses and consequent treatment of a TBI. Males, on the other hand, may let fall and head blow incidents pass, largely, due to neglect, or the fact that the society expects them to tough it out. Women also get more pampering than men after an injury.

Increase in vigorous physical activity

The higher prevalence of female TBI may also have come to the limelight as the nature of traditional cheerleading, which mostly involved chanting, changed to involve gymnastics; increasing occurrence of falls. The number of women participating in rough sports such as basketball, football, rugby and boxing has also risen significantly over the years as institutions and governments encourage participation of women in these sports. Some women rarely protect their heads as they assume their fellow women cannot engage as much force as men do in their sports, and this can result in concussions when accidents happen.

Hormonal changes

The female body undergoes many hormonal changes, significantly the reproductive cycle. Concussions may blow out of proportional the typical female mood swings; making these concussion symptoms more pronounced. Some reports indicate that females experience MTBI symptoms longer than males.

Treatment

MTBI treatment aims at giving the brain time and space to heal. Treatment entails both physical and mental rest. Physical movements should be minimized, especially those which cause abrupt/ violent head movements because the brain may be rammed against the insides of the cranium again, causing more damage, and mental activity should also be reduced. Since the human brain rarely rests when the person is awake, sleeping drugs can be administered to induce sleep. Drugs that can cause further bleeding of the brain, such as aspirin and ibuprofen should be avoided, but drugs that manage the symptoms may be used.

Return-to-play

Unless a concussion has totally disabled a person, physically or mentally, he/she will, almost, always, want to get back to his/ her activities as soon as possible. Sports women/ men or their coaches may want them (sports men/ women) to return to the field as soon as possible. However, a return to play plan/ formula should be worked out in the interest of the patient, by the patient, his/ her coaches and doctors. Getting back to the field/ pitch before a MHI has totally healed can cause more brain injury.

Summary

Much concern about concussions aims at male athletes, but female athletes also need to be protected from these sports-related injuries.

The number of concussions reported by female athletes has significantly risen. Experts have several theories as to why this increase has occurred.