By Sarah Brunskill
You have to take the impact test again? Every Williamsville East athlete has taken the grueling impact test before their sports season officially begins. This seemingly never-ending test has been used as a variable in determining if a hit to the head is a concussion or not. Concussions are one of the most common high school injuries. A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head. Concussions can be very dangerous and can affect athletes for a very long time. According to the Brain Injury Research institute, “An estimated 1.6-3.8 million sports- and recreation-related concussions occur in the United States each year”.
Caleb Earl, Williamsville East’s Athletic trainer, said, “Every year, there are on average 15 to 20 concussions at Williamsville East.” Almost 20 people are affected by these brain injuries, and so far this year, there have been 14 concussions. The sport with the most concussions at Williamsville East is soccer. Students are typically out of their sport for two weeks or more, depending on how severe their concussion is or how many concussions they have experienced. Multiple concussions can lead to more brain damage or even death.
If you’re not sure if you have a concussion, consider the symptoms. Some of the many effects of concussions include headaches, nausea, irritation to light and sound. The impact test all athletes at Williamsville East have to take is used to assess if there is a concussion. According to impactconcussion.com, the impact test is a “cleared online tool for baseline and post-injury testing, measur[ing] visual and verbal memory, reaction time, and processing speed to help determine if a patient (ages 12-59) can safely return to activity.” Therefore, it informs athletes on whether they have a concussion or not. Caleb added to this, saying that the test is not the entire picture. It is used to compare scores from when you originally took the test. But many students after getting hit never take the test because they don’t report their symptoms. This is another problem about concussions at all high schools, including Williamsville East.
Many concussion statistics are not accurate because many concussions go unreported. Athletes that don’t report their symptoms could be putting themselves at risk for second impact syndrome. This can occur when the brain swells rapidly, after a person suffers a second concussion before symptoms from an earlier one have subsided.
Not only do all these concussions prevent athletes from engaging in sports, but they also impact them in school. Due to the lack of concentration, students’ grades could decrease, but that’s not always a guarantee, so student athletes should always take precautions. If feeling concussion-like symptoms such as lack of concentration after a hit to the head, you should talk to a coach, parent, or athletic trainer to get help.
Though sometimes it’s not a concussion it’s always important to be sure and get medical help if needed. If a friend or teammate has a concussion, try to encourage them to go with what the doctor has recommended, such as staying off their phone, not watching tv, not engaging in lots of physical activity some of which could worsen their symptoms. The school trainer offers this advice: “If feeling symptoms of a concussion report them to your parents or doctor, or the athletic trainer.”
Staying safe after an injury is very important no matter what sport you play. Hopefully, after taking that dreadful impact test you stay safe and don’t have to take it again. But if you do, it’s nothing to play with.
