Growing up as a dancer in a studio where the style was to almost always dance in unison, I didn’t have a high risk of collisions with other people, and I only remember one concussion, earned in high school when I collided with a very large door hinge while leaving the choir room. (It wasn’t my finest hour.)
But concussions in team sports, particularly football, soccer, and even basketball are no joke. As the seasons for football and soccer approach and those pre-season physicals are being done, consider concussion baseline testing before the season even begins — if your healthcare provider does the test again when a concussion is suspected, it can be a good way to measure the test against a baseline for your athlete.
Concussion baseline testing
with advice from Mitch Kaye, PT
With fall sports around the corner, many student athletes are preparing for their annual physicals. Parents and coaches should consider getting concussion baseline testing done as part of these physicals, to help test for concussion symptoms later during activity.
According to the Mayo Clinic, a concussion is “a traumatic brain injury that affects your brain function.” It can be caused by a direct hit to the brain or just by a violent shaking of the head, like whiplash after a car accident or the body jolting from an impact elsewhere on the body.