Concussion Guidelines

Concussion experts have released new guidelines for treating this type of head injury. The main thing behind these new guidelines is a more individualized approach instead of the one system of treating concussions the same for everyone.

Over the last few years we've not only found out more and more about just how damaging and long-term concussions issues can be but also about how subtle they are.

Now the American Academy of Neurology, the brain doctors group, has come out with recommended guidelines about how to treat concussions. And their overall message is to treat every athlete with a concussion on a case-by-case basis, instead of a one big approach for everyone. This starts off with the initial injury, when it can sometimes be difficult to tell if it's a concussion or not. They recommend that anyone even suspected of having a concussion be removed from play and not be allowed back in until they've been cleared by a health professional trained in treating them. This means there are no guidelines as to how long to keep someone out like there were in the past, instead it depends on the individuals own recovery. And that will be different for each person.

They also reemphasize that concussion signs can be subtle, like a sensitivity to light, changes in sleep patterns, or even just slower reaction times. All things that need to be back to normal before the athlete gets back into the game.