The Dreaded C-Word!

1) The C-word in hockey is of course 'Concussion! They seem to be both epidemic and mysterious. Many times they seem to go undetected, undiagnosed or linger beyond what most would assume. First we asked our resident medical expert Dr. Varga to enlighten us as to what this 'injury' actually is. The Dr. said they are now called, in medical parlance, "mild traumatic brain injury" or an (MTBI) He said its actually a "temporary loss of brain function" (Not to be confused with Chris Simon) This can be caused by either a direct blow to the head or by quick acceleration or deceleration forces that can't be absorbed by the brain's cerebral-spinal fluid cushion. Depending upon the severity the damage can be temporary or permanent.

2) One of the worse case scenarios involves something called Post-concussion syndrome". "In this situation concussion symptoms do not resolve for weeks, months, or even years, and the patient may have headaches, light and sound sensitivity, memory and attention problems, dizziness, difficulty with directed movements". Some players have retired prematurely due to this. Keith Primeau, Eric Lindros and Pat Lafontaine come to mind. Here is the key phrase that the Dr. used: " The most serious potential complication of concussion is second-impact syndrome (SIS). "Patients who receive a second blow days or weeks after a concussion, before symptoms from the first concussion have gone away, are at risk of developing this condition".

3) There in lies the crux of the issue. There has been a problem of denial by BOTH the league and its players, and as a result players have suffered probably needless additional injury. Why? The main problem is BOTH parties have incentive to NOT list these injuries as concussions For players, having a concussion seems to bring them a stigma. Especially if they have had more than one. Teams begin look at them as being damaged goods so the players may be reluctant to be classified as such. Some may even recall a few weeks back the jerk Colin Campbell stating that he thinks "many players are faking career-ending concussions to collect insurance". Perhaps Colin suffered a few concussions during his forgettable career and his statement is due to his own brain damage?

4) Teams naturally want their players back in action ASAP, and an injury labeled a concussion would likely mean MRI's, neurological exams, etc that could place the player on an extended leave. So both parties would seem to have incentive to play down this potentially dangerous injury. This as a result can and will possibly result in even a higher amount of damage being done. Its a quandary that needs to be changed.

5) The first positive movement in this seems to be coming from the NHL Players’ Association, which thankfully seems to be taking a new interest in the problem. Its probably not a coincidence that this came with the recent appointment of Lindros to the organization. Many might recall his battles with the Flyers and in particular Bob Clarke. Clarke, like Campbell thought his player was milking the injury and apparently was trying to influence the team's medical staff. This incensed the Lindros family and led to Eric's loss of his captaincy and eventual ouster from Philly. He was not the same player after those series of under/misdiagnosed/mis-treated concussions. If Lindros can manage to change the mindset of the players and thereby allow the Association to push for standardization of care of this ailment from ownership it will go a long way to solve this troubling issue. As with many things, the first step to solving a problem is admitting there is a problem!