SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – High-impact sports like football, soccer, and volleyball are back in full swing, which means student athletes are at an increased risk for concussion and other injuries.
In this Avera Medical Minute, we show you the collaboration that goes into making sure young athletes are ready for the season, in both body and mind.
“So we’re doing our concussion testing. We do what’s called Sway, and what it does is it actually takes the use of a cellular device, and it uses kind of the mechanics within the phone to be able to measure balance, acuity, memory, reaction time, and inspection time as well,” said Caitlyn Martin, one of the Avera athletic trainers assigned to Washington High School.
“Then they use those scores. If you do get a concussion, then you’ll take that test again. So, if you want to see if you’re like super slow a second time, then maybe you have a concussion or something went wrong,” said Dana Harpe, a senior at Washington High School and one of the team’s outside hitters.
“It’s really important to have that baseline because everyone’s brains grow and change at different rates and different times. So we do a baseline test every year,” said Martin.
“This would be my fourth time doing it. We do it every year before volleyball,” said Harpe.
“After you take it one time, you kind of know what you’re getting into for next year. It’s easier. It’s like, if you know that you’re going to have to memorize the letters, you’re repeating them in your head as you’re thinking about the tiles or whatever, focusing on your balance. It’s kind of tricky when you have to close your eyes. It’s easier with your eyes open, obviously, but yeah, getting that every year just really helps,” said Hannah Nesdahl, a senior at Washington High School and the team’s defensive specialist/libero.
“Yes, it is definitely something that is very important for us to be able to identify quickly. Because if we can identify if there is a possible concussion, the sooner the better. There’s less chance for them to have long-term issues,” said Martin
“It happens more often than you think. Obviously, as a DS/Libero, I’ve gotten hit in the face a couple of times, and it’s hard, but some of those hitters, they’re coming at you really fast. So definitely really being able to know if you’re going to be all right after taking a hit like that is very important,” said Nesdahl
“Thankfully, I have not, but I have seen a lot of football players, when they’re getting hit, they do these too. I’ve seen a lot of them go over to our trainer, Caitlin, and they just take the test. And yeah, I think it’s helpful for when everyone gets knocked sometimes or falls down,” said Harpe.
“Sometimes they actually don’t even get hit on their head at all, but we end up with a whiplash type of mechanism. So inside the skull, the brain is wobbling back and forth, or it’s rotating, it’s getting twisted and torqued. So the concussion baseline testing gives me some objective data to go off,” said Sam Schimelpfenig, MD, a pediatrician and sports medicine physician with Avera Health.
“So it is definitely something that I can do on the sideline. I can take you right off the court, I can take you right off the field, and we can have that reading. So we’re not playing that guessing game, and it’s data right there. And again, I’m comparing you to yourself. So it’s not like I’m going off of normative data and those types of things. So it’s really accurate,” said Martin.
“Absolutely. Athletic trainers are well-trained to identify that and also to help us out as physicians. We can make recommendations as an athlete is getting back into their sport, but the athletic trainers are the boots on the ground. They’re the ones that actually walk with those athletes through those steps to make sure, hey, are you actually where we think you are? How are you doing with each one of these steps? And then reporting back to us when they’re like, yeah, we put them through all their paces and they’re 100%, we’re all pretty comfortable now that that athlete is safe to go back out there,” said Dr. Schimelpfenig.
“You get one brain. So we need to make sure that we do what we can to make sure we have a good future and our brain health is fine,” said Martin.
For more information on athletic training and ways trainers help athletes on and off the field, just go to www.avera.org.
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