A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness; memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, or balance; nausea; blurred vision; dizziness; sleep disturbances, and mood changes. Any of these symptoms may begin immediately, or appear days after the injury. Concussion should be suspected if a person indirectly or directly hits their head and experiences any of the symptoms of concussion. Symptoms of a concussion may be delayed by 1–2 days after the accident. It is not unusual for symptoms to last 2 weeks in adults and 4 weeks in children. Fewer than 10% of sports-related concussions among children are associated with loss of consciousness.
'Warming up' is a part of stretching and preparation for physical exertion or a performance by exercising or practicing gently beforehand, usually undertaken before a performance or practice. Athletes, singers, actors and others warm up before stressing their muscles. It is widely believed to prepare the muscles for vigorous actions and to prevent muscle cramps and injury due to overexertion.
Sports medicine is a branch of medicine that deals with physical fitness and the treatment and prevention of injuries related to sports and exercise. Although most sports teams have employed team physicians for many years, it is only since the late 20th century that sports medicine emerged as a distinct field of health care. In some countries, sports medicine is a recognized medical specialty. In the majority of countries where sports medicine is recognized and practiced, it is a physician (non-surgical) specialty, but in some, it can equally be a surgical or non-surgical medical specialty, and also a specialty field within primary care. In other contexts, the field of sports medicine encompasses the scope of both medical specialists as well as allied health practitioners who work in the field of sport, such as physiotherapists, athletic trainers, podiatrists and exercise physiologists.
Relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S) is a syndrome in which disordered eating, amenorrhoea/oligomenorrhoea, and decreased bone mineral density are present. It is caused by eating too little food to support the amount of energy being expended by an athlete, often at the urging of a coach or other authority figure who believes that athletes are more likely to win competitions when they have an extremely lean body type. RED-S is a serious illness with lifelong health consequences and can potentially be fatal.
The fencing response is an unnatural position of the arms following a concussion. Immediately after moderate forces have been applied to the brainstem, the forearms are held flexed or extended for a period lasting up to several seconds after the impact. The fencing response is often observed during athletic competition involving contact, such as combat sports, American football, Ice hockey, rugby union, rugby league and Australian rules football. It is used as an overt indicator of injury force magnitude and midbrain localization to aid in injury identification and classification for events including on-field and/or bystander observations of sports-related head injuries.
The Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine (CJSM) is a peer-reviewed medical journal in the sports medicine field. It is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. It was established in 1990 by the Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine with Gordon Matheson as the founding editor. It is also the official journal of the Australasian College of Sport and Exercise Physicians, the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM) and American Osteopathic Academy of Sports Medicine. It is the pre-eminent non-surgical sports medicine journal of North America. In North America, sports medicine is a subspecialty field of medicine with an even split between surgical and non-surgical subspecialties. The surgical branch of sports medicine is a subspecialty field of orthopedics, whereas the non-surgical branch draws from specialties including family practice, physiatry, pediatrics, internal medicine and emergency medicine. The journal editor-in-chief is Christopher Hughes. There are active associated CJSM Blog and Podcast sites which are edited by Deputy Editor James MacDonald.
Concussions, a type of mild traumatic brain injury, are a frequent concern for those playing sports, from children and teenagers to professional athletes. Repeated concussions are known to cause neurological disorders, particularly chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which in professional athletes has led to premature retirement, erratic behavior and even suicide. A sports-related concussion is defined as a "complex pathophysiological process affecting the brain, induced by biomechanical forces". Because concussions cannot be seen on X-rays or CT scans, attempts to prevent concussions have been difficult.
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a blow, jolt or penetration to the head that disrupts the function of the brain. Most TBIs are caused by falls, jumps, motor vehicle traffic crashes, being struck by a person or a blunt object, and assault. Student-athletes may be put at risk in school sports, creating concern about concussions and brain injury. A concussion can be caused by a direct blow to the head, or an indirect blow to the body that causes reactions in the brain. The result of a concussion is neurological impairment that may resolve spontaneously but may also have long-term consequences.
Concussions in England's professional rugby union are the most common injury received. Concussion can occur where an individual experiences an impact to the head, and commonly occurs in high-contact sporting activities, including American football, boxing, MMA and the rugby codes. It can also occur in recreational activities like horse riding, jumping, cycling, and skiing. The reason is that it doesn't have to be something to strike you in the proximity of the brain, but can also be caused by rapid change of movement, giving the skull not enough time to move with the body, causing the brain to press against the skull. With rugby being such a contact and fast moving sport, it is no wonder why there is concussion and other head injuries occurring. With the development of equipment and training methods, these will help benefit the players on the field know what could happen and how they can help with preventing it.
Caroline Finch AO is an Australian sports injury epidemiologist and sports injury prevention researcher. Her research has been adopted and used to directly inform safety policy by Government Departments of Sport and Health, health promotion and injury prevention agencies, and peak sports bodies both within Australia and internationally. Her injury prevention research has been applied to falls in older people, road safety, workplace safety and injuries in children.
The Australasian College of Sport and Exercise Physicians (ACSEP) is a not-for-profit professional organisation responsible for training, educating, and representing over 350 doctors in Australia and New Zealand. These doctors practise medicine in the specialty of sport and exercise medicine (SEM). The ACSEP is the smallest of the 15 recognised specialist medical Colleges in Australia with approximately 260 Fellows and Registrars in 2020. Australia and New Zealand, along with the UK, have been cited as pioneer countries in the establishment of SEM as a stand-alone specialty.
John Orchard FACSEP is an Australian sport and exercise medicine physician, notable for advocating for rule changes in sport to improve player safety. In 2020 he was awarded a Member of the Order of the Order of Australia for significant service to sports medicine, particularly cricket. He was a member of the Australian government advisory group for sport responding to COVID, representing professional sport as the Chief Medical Officer for Cricket Australia and was instrumental in cricket's response to COVID. During 2023, he worked as the General Medical Officer for Australia at the FIFA Women's World Cup.
Karim M. Khan is a former sport and exercise medicine physician who served as editor in chief of the British Journal of Sports Medicine from 2008-2020. He was awarded the Officer of the Order of Australia in 2019 for "distinguished service to sport and exercise medicine and to the promotion of physical activity for community health" and an Honorary Fellowship of the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine (UK) in 2014.
Jonathan A. Drezner is an American sport and exercise medicine physician, currently editor in chief of the British Journal of Sports Medicine. In both clinical practice and research he has a strong interest in sports cardiology. He is a first author for the International Guidelines for Electrocardiography (ECG) Interpretation in athletes and was the 19th President of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM) in 2012.
The American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM) is a large sports medicine membership organization, representing over 3000 physicians in the United States, established in 1991. AMSSM includes members who serve as team physicians at the youth level, NCAA, NFL, MLB, NBA, WNBA, MLS, and NHL, as well as with Olympic and Paralympic teams.
A pediatric concussion, also known as pediatric mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head trauma that impacts the brain capacity. Concussion can affect functional, emotional, cognitive and physical factors and can occur in people of all ages. Symptoms following after the concussion vary and may include confusion, disorientation, lightheadedness, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, loss of consciousness (LOC) and environment sensitivity. Concussion symptoms may vary based on the type, severity and location of the head injury. Concussion symptoms in infants, children, and adolescents often appear immediately after the injury, however, some symptoms may arise multiple days following the injury leading to a concussion. The majority of pediatric patients recover from the symptoms within one month following the injury. 10-30% of children and adolescents have a higher risk of a delayed recovery or of experiencing concussion symptoms that are persisting.
The Orchard Sports Injury and Illness Classification System (OSIICS), previously OSICS, is an injury classification system for sports injuries and illnesses. It was first created in 1993 and is free for sporting teams and competitions to use. It is one of the two major Sports Injury classification systems in use worldwide; the other is the Sports Medicine Diagnostic Coding System.
Exercise medicine is a branch of medicine that deals with physical fitness and the prevention and treatment of injuries and illness with exercise. In some countries, Sport and Exercise Medicine (SEM) is a recognized medical specialty. Exercise medicine is therefore an emerging physician (non-surgical) specialty, but there is also a belief that exercise is treatment of such fundamental benefit that it should be incorporated into all medical specialties. Allied health practitioners also can specialize in exercise such as exercise physiologists, physiotherapists, athletic trainers and podiatrists.
Rosemarie Scolaro Moser is an American sports neuropsychologist and director of the Sports Concussion Center of New Jersey. She is the first female to receive the Distinguished Career Award from the Sports Neuropsychology Society (SNS) and the first elected female president of SNS.
Ollie Jay is an Australian-Welsh academic based at the University of Sydney who is a researcher into exercise and working in hot conditions.
