May 5th- Day 2

Today was yet another educational day with Chris Young in the athletic training room. This afternoon Chris, Erika, Nathan, and I began by collecting the concussion headbands used by the men's and women's varsity lacrosse teams and we learned how they work. Chris explained to us how the sensors in the headbands monitor the amount of G force received by a player with any given hit and it is recorded in each players data log. We then discussed the amount of G force that could potentially lead to a concussion (95-100 g) and then we dove into the numerous steps taken in diagnosing someone with a concussion. There are multiple steps and tests that need to be done in order to diagnose a concussion and determine the level of seriousness the concussion is. We reviewed the average number of concussions at Proctor by the sport which led the group into an interesting discussion of the research into why women are more susceptible to concussions which seems directly linked to hormones. Chris ended our discussion on concussions today by reviewing the legal end of what he must do if an athlete is showing signs of a concussion and he explained how because of the large amounts of money being spent on concussion research these laws have changed drastically over the past ten years. As we were wrapping up our work for the day we had an athlete come to Chris with pain in his elbow. Chris used is acronym H.O.P.S. to aid him in the diagnosis of the athletes injury. First Chris took a history of the athlete- what was his sport, was it a sudden onset of pain or gradual, did he remember doing anything to injure the elbow. Next Chris observed the athlete's physical movements of his arm which he then followed with palpitations of the athletes arm. Lastly Chris performed special tests such as a strength test and came to the conclusion that this athlete was indeed showing signs of Lateral Epicondylitis "Tennis Elbow". Chris explained the importance of each part of H.O.P.S. and how it can be used for most of the injuries he sees on a daily basis.