Never let anything stop you. If you are an athlete with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury you want to restart your field career, this article is for you.

Testing and managing athletes with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) include symptomatic testing, clinical examination, and neurocognitive testing with follow-up tests in the following days, weeks, to months of recovery. 

The initial period of mental and physical relaxation followed by a gradual increase in physiologic and psychological stress in non-athlete athletes is a sign of management and a change in the management paradigm.

Appropriate treatment includes accurate diagnosis and management using current guidelines to minimize the possible future withdrawal effects from TBI.

So, any player accused of having Mild Traumatic Brain Injury should be removed from the field immediately for a thorough examination. If a player has a suspected brain injury and the doctor is not in place, the player should be removed from training or play and taken for a proper examination before they return to play.

What is mild TBI?

So, whats a mTBI? Mild TBI (mTBI) is now used instead of a contradiction in the call, as per the World Health Organization (WHO) and CDC—Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

TBI involves a clinical diagnosis of neurological dysfunction following traumatic brain injury. Many explanations exist, but the CDC defines mTBI as a complex pathophysiologic process. It affects the brain, caused by the destructive biomechanical forces of the second direct or indirect force in the head.

The American Academy of Neurology defines mTBI as a biomechanical brain injury resulting in neurologic dysfunction. Mild TBI results in physical, mental, emotional, and sleep-related symptoms and may include or exclude cognitive loss (LOC).

The duration of symptoms varies widely and may last a few minutes depending on the days, weeks, months, or even longer. There are inherent weaknesses in all definitions of mild traumatic brain injury as they are based on clinical trials and may be biased against the examiner or the examiner.

Back to Play Athletes

A critical aspect of MIld TBI management in sports is physical and mental rest until the symptoms go away. An athlete who comes back to play during this challenging time is in danger of being permanently disabled or even dying.

Athletes are specifically different about the desire to quickly return to the same place where the brain injury was stored. RTP guidelines work to protect the health of athletes.

There are 6 stages in the protocol that begin with complete physical and mental relaxation and then progress to simple aerobic exercises, sports-related exercises, less contact training exercises, full contact exercises, and RTP. The first rest period should include complete physical rest, and the athletic activity of the athlete also needs to be adjusted.

These may include but are not limited to a reduced number of assignments, extra time to complete class assignments and tests, breaking down complex tasks into simple steps, and providing a seamless environment.

Second Impact Syndrome

Second-Impact Syndrome (SIS) is a rare form of re-injury that take place before the complete recovery of previous Mild TBI. SIS can lead to severe neurologic trauma or even death, even if the secondary effect gets considered to be only minor.

It is due to physiologic differences between children and adolescents compared with adults who have been exposed to cerebral edema for a long time after traumatic brain injury and increased sensitivity to glutamate, which increases the risk of secondary injury.

TBI Prevention in Sports

Prevention of TBI is crucial and should be the focus of sports governing bodies, athletes, coaching staff, and medical professionals. The two main ways to do this are through-improved defense systems and legislative changes. Guidance on whats a mTBI is and the implementation of plans to educate athletes about it is also necessary.

Biomechanical studies show a decrease in brain impact on headgear and protective helmet use, but these findings were not interpreted to indicate a reduction in TBI incidence.

The use of helmets has been argued as increasing the risk of brain damage through behavioral changes in athletes who can take a more dangerous style of play and use their helmet as a "weapon" when in contact with another athlete.

Conclusion

Sports-related mTBI is a common and challenging injury to be diagnosed, with a series of signs and symptoms that can change for hours or days after a severe episode.

The Mild Traumatic Brain Injury test should begin with a cervical spine test, given the same mechanism of action in both procedures. It is crucial to note that athletes who have severe headaches that cause loss of consciousness need immediate evaluation in respiratory tests, breathing, blood circulation, and rapid stabilization of the neck with the remaining helmet and shoulders.

Those athletes who lose their progressive consciousness (LOC) or conscious shift should be kept in a stable position and transported immediately with a backboard and ambulance to the emergency room. However, most athletes will not suffer from LOC and may get tested separately.