When I was young I loved playing Mike Tyson's Punch Out for old-school Nintendo. It was such a realistic boxing game where all you need to do is analyze and take advantage of your opponents' patterns and weaknesses in order to knock them out. That, and knowing the password to get to Mike Tyson (007 373 5963), was all it took to beat up guys that were about 20 times bigger and stronger. But now that I'm learning about brain injuries I feel bad for all of the concussions I must have given to Don Flamenco, Piston Honda, and Bald Bull (both matches). You may be wondering exactly what a concussion is, and why these guys should have stayed away from me to let their brains recover before facing me in the ring again so quickly. Well, you've come to the right place to find out.
A concussion is a brain injury that happens when you get hit pretty hard or fall down, such as with high impact sports like hockey, boxing, or football. Your skull is usually good at cushioning any impact with it's brain-covering membranes and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), but it only has a limited protective value. If you get hit with more force than you can deal with, then your brain can get shaken around or hit the sides of your skull. Medically speaking, this sucks.
The injury caused by a concussion is not focused in one area. In other words it is a diffuse injury. It is thought that the brain gets bruised and that many nerves get broken. There may not be noticeable permanent brain damage with a concussion, but repeated concussions will accumulate the damage and be apparent over time.
Here are some of the symptoms that you may see with concussions:
- Seeing stars
- Feeling dizzy
- Memory loss (especially beginning from concussion onward)
- Nausea and vomiting
- Headache
- Blurred vision
- Slurred speech
- Poor concentration
- Overly tired
- Agitated and irritable
People may or may not lose consciousness, so you can't diagnose a concussion just based on whether they were knocked out or not. There is a grading system for determining the severity of a concussion. You need to know this because it helps to decide how long to wait before playing hockey again.
- Grade 1
- Some symptoms lasting less than 15 minutes, no loss of consciousness (LOC)
--> You can return to sport after symptoms disappear - Grade 2
- Some symptoms lasting more than 15 minutes, no LOC
--> Wait one week before returning to sports - Grade 3
- Some symptoms with LOC lasting less than 5 minutes
--> See a doctor as soon as you can, don't play sports until the Dr says so - Grade 4
- Some symptoms with LOC lasting between 5 and 10 minutes
--> Go to hospital ASAP - Grade 5
- Some symptoms with LOC lasting more than 10 minutes
--> Go to hospital ASAP
If you get a second concussion before you have fully recovered from the first one, you can injure your brain so much more seriously than you did the first time. Therefore it is crucial that you let your brain heal before getting back in the boxing ring. And since the damage caused is permanent, the smartest thing to do is to prevent concussions from happening in the first place.
One last tidbit for you would-be boxers and drunken alleyway streetfighters: You are far more likely to lose consciousness if your head gets turned at the time of impact. So the easiest way for you to knock out your opponent is with a roundhouse punch.
One more nerdy Nintendo clip, mainly for my brothers.
So I'm still computerless, but I hope to get my new MacBook within the next day or two. In the meantime I've been busy with MVN (Queen's very own Medical Variety Night) that took place last weekend. My good buddy and current class president Eric was my co-MC, and except for a few jokes we managed to get quite a few laughs from the audience. Well, at least from the drunk Saturday night crowd.
