For the 2010 season, the National Football League will be placing posters in team locker rooms warning players about head and brain injuries due to concussions. The poster will describe the symptoms of concussion and warn of their long term consequences involving head and brain injuries. This is a major step for the NFL. The NFL, as are other sports leagues in the USA and around the world, is finally recognizing the devastating effects head and brain injuries can have on players.
Last December the NFL tightened its concussion rules by forbidding players from returning to the field of play after suffering a blow to the head. Under the new rules, if a player shows any symptom of a concussive head or brain injury, they must be benched for the remainder of the game. They must also be held out of practice until cleared to return by the team doctor and an independent neurologist. In the past, only players who lost consciousness were required to be held out of action under the NFL rules. The poster the NFL will be using states that
“practicing or playing while symptoms persist ‘can prolong the time to recover’ and that ‘playing through a concussion….may cause permanent damage to your brain.’ It goes on to say that “According to the CDC, ‘traumatic brain injury can cause a wide range of short or long-term changes affecting thinking, sensation, language, or emotions. These changes may lead to problems with memory and communication, personality changes, as well as depression and the early onset of dementia. Concussions and conditions resulting from repeated brain injury can change your life and your family’s life forever.”
The other major sports, such as hockey, soccer, racing, basketball, and baseball, have also revised their policies on concussion associated head and brain injuries. I hate to say I told you so, but personal injury attorneys, in Orlando and around the country, have been warning of the dangers of accident related concussions for years. But because it is difficult to establish these injuries on diagnostic tests, such as an MRI, the insurance companies have downplayed their significance, especially when associated with a neck whiplash type injury case. In some cases the snapping of the head both, forward and backward, in a crash can cause sufficient trauma to the brain that concussion like symptoms can occur, even without a direct blow to the head.
Head and brain injury symptoms caused by concussion can include the following:
- Confusion
- Headache
- Amnesia
- Difficulty concentrating
- Balance Problems
- Irritability
- Dizziness
- Difficulty Concentrating
- Nausea
- Feeling Sluggish, Foggy or Groggy
- Sensitivity to Noise or Light
- Double and/or Fuzzy Vision
- Slowed Reaction Time
- Feeling more Emotional than usual
- Sleep Disturbances and
- Loss of Consciousness.
Science is showing us that loss of consciousness, however, is not as important an ingredient in diagnosing a head or brain injury as was once thought. But the insurance companies still try to make a big deal out of the fact a person who complains of a concussion or head injury did not register loss of consciousness. In truth, however, many times people do not remember if they lost consciousness or not. This in and of itself may be indicative that they in fact did lose consciousness, even if just for a little while. It is important that you tell your Orlando personal injury attorney about any of the above signs and symptoms you may be experiencing after suffering a personal injury.
If you have been involved in an accident, let our Orlando area personal injury attorneys give you a free evaluation without any obligation. Call us at (407) 423-1313 or contact us online and we will answer any questions that you may have. Someone will respond to your inquiry. If our personal injury attorneys accept your case, you will never pay us any fees or costs unless we make a recovery for you. So call us today. Remember, personal service is not a goal at our firm, it is a requirement.
