COVER CONCUSSION The neck effect I New evidence is making a case for chiropractic in concussion management chiropractic specialist based in Orillia, Ont., who has seen many concussion cases in her practice – Parks is one of them. “I think we know what a concussion is. What we don’t know is why everybody is so different and why it affects people in different ways,” says La-framboise. A concussion is a traumatic brain injury that can be caused by a blow to the head or when the head or upper body is violently shaken. This type of in-jury can cause a loss of consciousness, but most concussions do not. Because of this, some people have concussions and don’t realize it – and that, Laframboise says, has been one of the biggest chal-lenges with concussion. Concussion seems to affect people in different ways: some could have headaches and dizziness, others are knocked unconscious, and many will exhibit no immediate symptoms following a hit or a concussion-causing incident. Yet, all of them could have sustained a concussion. There is a growing number of sports injury pre-vention advocates, like Canada’s Royal College of Chiropractic Sports Sciences (RCCSS), calling for better collaboration and increased education among athletes, parents, coaches, athletic groups and health-care providers regarding concussions. “What we need to do really is come together so that we are all in understanding of how we diagnose (concussion), and what we do to manage it,” says Laframboise, who also chairs the RCCSS public health committee. The RCCSS is doing its part to educate chiro-practors about concussion as part of the college’s www.canadianchiropractor.ca B y M ari -L en D e G uzMan t was just supposed to be a regular hockey game and the only thing different with Andrew Parks that day was he was having pain on his neck and some cramping. It took only what seemed like a harmless bump on the shoulder with another player to realize something was terribly wrong. That shoulder bump caused him to fall on the ice, and that’s when everything started spinning around him. He remembers being slightly confused on the bench as he sits out the rest of the game. Parks then went to the hospital, where he was di-agnosed with a “minor concussion.” It was only later on that Parks realized his brain injury must have started even before he got on the ice on Sept. 29, 2012. At another game the day before, he sustained a serious hit on the head. “This hit hurt at that moment, but there was no specific or noticeable changes – no dizziness, no loss of consciousness, no stars,” Parks recalls. He then continued to play and finish the game. Little did he know that one hit would leave him debili-tated, mentally and physically, for the next several months. Unfortunately, it’s a scenario that occurs far too many times in the sporting world: a player suffers a blow to the head and, not exhibiting any symp-toms that would indicate an injury, continues to play the game. This is what makes concussions a very serious matter, says Dr. Michelle Laframboise, a sports mARI-leN De guzmAN is the editor of Canadian Chiropractor magazine. Email her at [email protected] Despite their many safety benefits, helmets do not protect against concussions. 24 Canadian Chiropractor December 2014
Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor December 2014: Page 24
