Concussions coming to forefront in sports

SANDPOINT — There was a time when a high school football player would sustain a concussion, only to have his coach tell him to grab some water, sniff some smelling salts, shake out the cobwebs and get back in the game.

Now days, thankfully, much more is known about the long-term affects of brain trauma. If a football player shows any symptoms of a concussion, trainers now commandeer their helmets and send them straight to the bench.

“Why take the chance?” asks Sandpoint physical therapist Steven Sodorff, who has been working with SHS athletes since 1974 and is a fixture on the sideline at Bulldog football games. “If I can identify one, you’re done. We’re just going to take better care of our athletes.”

The issue has come to the forefront of sports in the past few years, as more and more athletes are showing the damaging effects of multiple concussions and more is being learned about prevention and treatment.

This week, Major League baseball created a new seven day disabled list, specifically to monitor the after-effects of any head-related injury. On Tuesday, the nation’s most sweeping measure addressing youth concussions was signed into law in Colorado, setting guidelines for coaches to bench all youth players when it’s believed they’ve suffered any head trauma. The NHL and NFL have both recently changed rules and levied heavy fines with the express mission to cut down on a rapidly growing epidemic in today’s competitive sports world.

About 135,000 children between the ages of 5 to 18 are treated in emergency rooms annually for sports and recreation related concussions, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

To help address the problem locally, Sodorff is now offering a $35 baseline test to any and all local athletes who choose to take it. Athletes go through a battery of reaction and mental acuity tests, with their scores closely monitored. It provides a baseline to compare with when an athlete suffers a concussion, essentially providing a concrete means to tell when it’s safe to return.

“If their memory is slower, or their mental acuity is slower, this takes the guess work out. When they’re ready, they can go back and play,” said Sodorff, noting it’s the second or third concussions that can be the most dangerous. “We don’t want to send anyone back before they’re ready. That’s when the damage can occur.”

Kelsey Sadowski, the head athletic trainer at SHS and an assistant of Sodorff, helps administer the tests. Repeating numbers in reverse order, saying the months in reverse and immediate and delayed memory exercises are all tested and compiled to arrive at a baseline score.

The concrete number is far easier to recognize than most concussion symptoms, which include sleeping, fatigue, headaches, dizziness, nausea and vision problems.

“Concussions are so subjective, a lot depends on their symptoms,” explained Sadowski. “We’re trying to get the most objective numbers.”

Women are more prone to concussions than men, partially due to less neck strength. Oddly enough, concussions in cheerleaders are 30 percent higher than any contact sport. Goalie is the most dangerous position on the soccer field, catcher on the baseball field, and most basketball concussions are from the head hitting the floor.

Sandpoint’s Patty Hutchens has seen the after-effects of head trauma first hand, as her son Kevin Hutchens has suffered numerous concussions as a soccer goalie. Kevin began showing symptoms recently, and when he passed out one day in the kitchen, Patty decided to take him to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for answers.

Turns out the proper medication helped alleviate many of the symptoms, and Kevin has the green light to pursue the sports he loves, including football in the fall with a specially-designed helmet. The prognosis provided a happy ending to a scary situation for any parent.

“Everyone kept telling us it was post-concussion syndrome, that it just takes time,” recalled Patty Hutchens, adding that depression is also a side effect of multiple concussions. “I would encourage anyone and everyone to get the baseline test. That will help them know in the future where they are. You can recover from these; Kevin has recovered.”

Hutchens also expressed a sentiment shared by a growing number of doctors and coaches, that more soccer players, especially goalies, should wear protective head gear.

“Anything that can help cushion the blow,” said Hutchens. “Some kids don’t think it’s cool, but it’s not cool to not remember anything.”