I feel I must respond to the letter titled "Term concussion used to trivialize brain damage" by Will Lewis.
I assume from the letter that he or someone close to him has experienced a concussion and the frustrations that go along with it.
I am by no means an expert on concussions, but have recently completed a concussion management course and have been working with concussion patients in physiotherapy.
Concussions, also known as mild traumatic brain injury, definitely aren't a mild or trivial injury, but they also aren't brain damage as mentioned in the letter. Moderate and severe brain injury are a completely different entity where there is cell damage.
Concussions are a dysfunction (sometimes quite disabling), secondary to an energy depletion resulting from a mechanical stretching/shearing of the neurons in the brain. They generally are recoverable but are vulnerable during the recovery period to more severe or irreversible cellular damage if a second impact, even of modest intensity, is encountered.
Therefore it is extremely important to have appropriate care following a concussion; initially monitoring for red flags, indicative of a more serious injury, and secondly following post-concussion protocol to help return the individual to full function.
The case of Rowan Stringer, the 17-year-old rugby player from Ontario who died after being tackled during a game, is a very tragic, and preventable example of second-impact syndrome.
She had been hit twice in the previous two weeks, but unfortunately had not been evaluated by a doctor. Currently, in the U.S., there is a law (ZacharyLystedt Law) that states that athletes must be cleared by a licensed healthcare provider before returning to play.
In Canada, there isn't a law like this yet, but Rowan's law is coming. We have a lot yet to learn about concussions, but through education and training, hopefully we can eliminate tragedies like this from occurring in the future.
Vickie Laverdure
Prince George
