Concussions are a big part of the type of skiing that I participate in. Getting "cartwhelled" and having that sick feeling that you know your brain has just gone for a ride is the worst for me. I was listening to the radio the other day and they were talking about a new device that cuts the blood flow away from your head so that it fills with blood thus creating a cushion for your brain. Does this idea hold water, or are they just fVcking with my circulatory system?

 

I'm not a doctor by any means but that sounds wacky. I wouldn't want to be o e of the first to try it.

 

I think GMAC tried it. Make your own conclusions....

 

No that was crack

 

don't get them

 

Are you staying a helmet? Maybe a better helmet?

 

Decreasing the flow away from the brain while not doing the same of the blood going to the brain would increase the blood pressure in the brain. Hemorrhage and aneurysm come to mind...

 

Take this with a grain, I'm not a medical professional, just a lifelong athlete who tends to participate in dangerous sports. Any preventative measure brings with it the false sense of security that you can be more aggressive with your activities, endure more frequent head trauma, or take impact and avoid detrimental after effects to the brain. The only way to effectively lessen brain injury is to lessen the opportunities wherein your brain is subjected to impact, and to lessen the severity of impact (mass of opposing object & speed of head or opposing object).

It means your head is delicate, and you have to treat it as such.

If you continue to subject your head/brain to trauma, you will suffer effects of that trauma. That's it.

Wear a helmet, avoid hitting your head. When you hit your head, even with a helmet on, you will injure your brain. The severity of injury will be dependent upon the force at time of impact.

I wish this wasn't the case.

I wish we could unplug our street brain, plug in a sports brain we could beat on, then switch back when we're done. I really do. Such a difficult limitation faced by athletes. Best protection is knowledge. Study brain injuries and concussions. This will make you a more thoughtful and safe competitor or athlete, you'll last longer in the sport, and your brain stands a better chance at retaining longer-term usability and less degradation.

 

Super D is correct.

However, the original post is in reference to work out of my lab. We just submitted a follow up paper to Journal of Neurotrauma. You probably heard one of my collaborators who is prone to media discussions.

The approach is to decrease blood flow out the brain, temporarily causing the brain to swell, so it has less room to "slosh" around the inside of the head during trauma. This is preliminary work, and a novel approach to protecting the brain from itself.

 

If you have a concussion, this is serious. Do not participate in any sports until cleared by a MD familiar with management of concussions.