Question about head injury's
- Thread starter Mary Hall
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EJFan
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there needs to be a lot more information than "7 concussions" in order to even begin to speculate on this. there are different types of concussions with different severities and long-term effects.Mary Hall said:
essentially, a concussion is nothing more than the brain sloshing around inside the skull. it CAN be completely inconsequential... or it could lead to other very serious problems.
truthfully though... no one can answer your question without medical knowledge and a patient history.
Straight-8
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It's impossible to say anything specific, of course. A concussion is identified as a temporary alteration of consciousness so, as EJF says it may mean a lot of things. It is usually associated with a MTBI (mild traumatic brain injury). Such an injury occurs in various ways (contre-coupe, direct insult, micro and macro-biotic lesions). The brain is jelly like but has various densities within it. What that means is that in a rotational type injury the various densities may move at a different rate and cause microscopic tears (lesions) deep within the brain. Direct insult more often causes a hematoma (bleeding into the brain). Brain tissue and blood don't get along so where there is free blood there is damage to the brain.Mary Hall said:
Typically, the brain develops compensatory strategies over time to minimize the way the injury affects function. Additional injuries will make the ability to compensate that much more difficult.
In other words, to some extent, they are cumulative injuries. Seven (even fairly moderate) concussions is a lot. The more you get the worse it gets. Boxers often have numerous MTBIs during their careers. That is where the idea of a 'punch drunk' boxer comes from. I think any competant neuropsychologist or neurologist would say to avoid further concussions.
M's girl
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What EJ said.
I ended up with migraines as a result of a concussion, which basically also was caused by a blow to my head. Not even a very severe one and somewhat selfinflicted... so.... Imagine what 7 heavy ones can do to someone like a boxer, for instance. Still.... it much also depends on where the impact is.
I ended up with migraines as a result of a concussion, which basically also was caused by a blow to my head. Not even a very severe one and somewhat selfinflicted... so.... Imagine what 7 heavy ones can do to someone like a boxer, for instance. Still.... it much also depends on where the impact is.
Weird Harold
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Straight-8 said:
A very good explanation.
The only thing I can add is that the time between concussions is very relevant. Seven concussions over a week is much more serious than seven concussions over seven years.
"Punch Drunk" boxers suffer from "dementia pugilistica." ONE concussion is sufficient to cause dementia pugilistica, but it is more commonly caused by dozens or hundreds of blows to the head over a long period.
Troy Aikmen and Steve Young both retired from the NFL because of repeated concussions. One point made about conscussions in the discussions surrounding both retirements was that each concussion suffered makes one more susceptible to concussions. (You explained why that is very well from a technical standpoint, BTW.)
3 ? 7? 20?
That question is next to impossible to answer. If he's still alive, the last concussion didn't kill him. That's about as definitive as one could hazard a guess.
Mr. Ali has Parkinsons disease. Distinctly different from the tiny lacerations in the brain caused by repeated punches to the head that cause the typical slow almost retarded appearance of many older boxers. We are NOT woodpeckers and the brain being jerked back and forth and side to side over years of boxing causes tears and lesions which heal very very slowly if at all and the damage IS cumulative but individual concussions just can't be definitively described as XXX amount of damage. He's either DEAD or he's not.
The biggest danger from repeated concussions is that it weakens the skull and the 8th could be a fatal one where a section of skull fractures off an old weakened area of damage and rips down into the brain causing bleeding or worse.
One way of telling if the damage is VERY severe and irreversible is if he suddenly starts speaking FRENCH - you know, providing he's not French to start with, that is.
That question is next to impossible to answer. If he's still alive, the last concussion didn't kill him. That's about as definitive as one could hazard a guess.
Mr. Ali has Parkinsons disease. Distinctly different from the tiny lacerations in the brain caused by repeated punches to the head that cause the typical slow almost retarded appearance of many older boxers. We are NOT woodpeckers and the brain being jerked back and forth and side to side over years of boxing causes tears and lesions which heal very very slowly if at all and the damage IS cumulative but individual concussions just can't be definitively described as XXX amount of damage. He's either DEAD or he's not.
The biggest danger from repeated concussions is that it weakens the skull and the 8th could be a fatal one where a section of skull fractures off an old weakened area of damage and rips down into the brain causing bleeding or worse.
One way of telling if the damage is VERY severe and irreversible is if he suddenly starts speaking FRENCH - you know, providing he's not French to start with, that is.
TBKahuna123
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True, but it is widely considered that the trauma to his brain is what brought on the onset of the Parkinsons and why it progressed so rapidly. Whether or not that's true is just speculation, thought he theory does seem sound to me.MR.GGG said:
The worst damage is when the brain is concussed again before the healing is complete. Ever have a bad bruise, then take another shot in the same bruise? It hurts even worse and now takes longer to heal. Well that's what concussion is, a brain bruise. Concussions happen at different places in different severities, so a series of minor concussions to different parts of the brain may not cause any serious damage and one major one might be devestating. A series of mediums to a single location would add up, each one requiring less and less force to cause more damage. The biggest problem I have seen is that one becomes MORE susceptible to concussions with each one. I give you Eric Lindross, the concussion king of the NHL.MR.GGG said:
Concussions are sneaky two. I've had two since i started playing hockey, both relatively minor. The first one I took a stick to the temple and kept playing for about 30 seconds, then realized I didn't remember comign off the bench in the first place. I got off the ice asap and was fine a few minutes later. The kinda bad one was just last year. I got ran into in the net and got back up and finished the game. I was later told that I was out for about 20 seconds. I didnt' recal that. I was told that we had to kill off a 5 on 3 power play and that I had made a nuch of great saves, which I didin't recall. I remember us scoring the tying goal with me pulled and on the bench, but I didn't remember heading to the bench. It was a little wierd. Luckily I was cool a couple days later, but it was scary. Now I have to wonder, will I be more susceptible to the next hit? What are the chances a 360 pounder is gonna run into me again?
Besides, if I start speaking Frnech, my teammates will probably just think it's some wierd goalie thing and leave me alone.MR.GGG said:One way of telling if the damage is VERY severe and irreversible is if he suddenly starts speaking FRENCH - you know, providing he's not French to start with, that is.
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