[Kobi]

Originally Posted by *Anya*

The NFL has attempted to make the sport safer for its players, through rule changes, policies designed to remove concussed players and technologic advances. But brain trauma occurs when a football player’s brain accelerates or decelerates after it hits another player or the turf, bashing the sides of the head, an action a helmet is defenseless against.

“It happens inside the skull,” McKee said. “It’s an intrinsic component of football.”

I snipped this cuz it is the most important part of understanding brain injuries regardless of how they occur.

There is no helmet made that protects your brain inside your skull. And knowing what happens to your brain inside your skull is both disgusting and fascinating.

If you have a weak stomach, dont read this.

If you are curious, read on.

People tend to think of the inside of your skull as a smooth bone structure. It is not. The bottom of your skull, on which the brain rests, is a bumpy and grooved surface. The brain is soft tissue and floats over and within this bone structure.

With trauma, either a singular event or repetitive events, the brain sloshes around inside the skull. Multiple types of damages can occur to the structure of the brain itself which in turn affects the cognitive areas which that part of the brain controls. Repetitive blows cause more and more injury to both the tissue itself and the areas of functioning it controls.

When you have trauma to the head what is happening is the bottom of the brain is sloshing over the bumpy surface of the bottom of the skull causing shearing of the tissue. Simultaneously, you have direct impact damage i.e. if your hit the front of your head the brain will slosh forward and bang against the front of the skull, and you have a contra coup injury to the back of the brain when it sloshes backwards.

Same dynamic with a side impact. If you hit the left side of your head, the brain will slosh left, hit your skull and then slosh right until it hits your skull.

The brain will continue sloshing and hitting the hard and rough surfaces back and forth until it regains its equilibrium.

That is a lot of potential for damage and that is just with one event.

Helmets may protect you from fracturing your skull but they will not stop your brain from sloshing around inside your skull.

And this phenomenon is not unique to sports. You can have the same dynamic if you fall off your bike or motorcycle and hit your head, or if you are punched in the face, or if you fall and hit your head.

Neuro-cogitive testing can diagnose closed brain injuries. Often people know themselves something isnt right or those who know them know they are not acting like themselves.

Ok I'm done.