Blows to the Head While Playing Sports May Lead to Permanent Brain Damage

My stepfather had been a professional boxer when he was a young man. I was the proverbial 99-pound weakling when I was 14-years-old. One day my stepfather and I were shopping at the local second hand store when I spied an old pair of boxing gloves. I think they cost three dollars. I asked him to buy them for me. He said OK, but I would have to learn how to use them. I agreed.

He started giving me lessons. He taught me how to stand, hold my hands, and throw punches. He taught me how to throw jabs, right hooks, and uppercuts. And most importantly, how to avoid a punch.

After about a month, he told me that I was ready to fight. This took me by surprise because I thought that I would just be playing around with my friends. But no. My stepfather issued an invitation to every kid in the neighborhood to take me on, even the ones that were a lot older and bigger than I was. It sounded mean, but actually it helped me grow up a whole lot faster.

I didn't win all that many fights, but I did do a pretty good job of defending myself against the bigger kids and after fighting all those fights, no schoolyard bully would mess with me. I even got good enough to fight a couple of Golden Glove fights before I eventually got tired of it.

During one fight I was boxing a kid who was older and much larger than I was. But I was doing pretty good against him until one wild punch that he threw landed on my right kidney. It hurt really bad and my knees buckled. I had no choice but to turn in the towel because my legs were so weak that I had trouble standing up. I had blood in my urine for a couple days after.

That blow to the kidney ended the fight, but it could have been worse. If he would have knocked me out with a blow to the head, I could have suffered permanent brain damage. According to CNN:

"Repeated blows to the head may cause severe brain injury, especially over time. Once a player has been hit once, additional trauma soon after could have had a worse impact, resulting in loss of consciousness."

So it may be good for the spectators if a fighter who has been knocked partially unconscious gets back up and fights until he gets knocked out, but it certainly is not good for the fighter's brain.

As a matter of fact, that's where the term "punch drunk" comes from. The fighter's speech is slurred and his gait unsteady because his brain has been rattled so many times that it has suffered an appreciable amount of damage.

Knockouts occur because the brain isn't secured to the skull. A kick or punch to the jaw can dislodge it. When that happens, the blood vessels and nerves can't sustain the brain and the person loses consciousness. Bleeding and scarring can occur and the person suffers permanent brain damage.

Not all concussions to the brain involve a loss of consciousness. There is a new vision test now that can determine if the athlete has suffered a concussion. Then the trainer or coach can determine whether or not to let the player participate in the sport again right away. This could help prevent permanent brain damage.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/02/09/ufc.kick.silva.belfort/index.html