what to do when someone gets knocked unconscious
What Happens When You lot're Knocked Unconscious?
- Published xx November 2018
- Reviewed twenty November 2018
- Writer Michael W. Richardson
- Source BrainFacts/SfN
iStock.com/Wavebreakmedia
Yous've seen it on television — a graphic symbol on a show or a professional athlete on the field receives a sharp blow to the head, and crumples on the ground, completely unconscious. A knockout blow is a traumatic brain injury or concussion, but not every concussion means a loss of consciousness. Christopher Giza, professor of pediatric neurology and neurosurgery at UCLA, explains what happens when you lot're knocked out, how it's unlike from the average concussion, and the best course of action following a knock-out accident.
What does information technology mean to be knocked unconscious?
Your brain has three large parts. There'southward the left hemisphere, the right hemisphere, and the brainstem at the bottom. You tin can lose consciousness if both hemispheres are turned off at one time — though if merely one is affected, the other can selection up some of the slack. You can also lose consciousness if office of the brainstem is knocked offline. Brain activity can be affected by a number of things — oxygen can be cut off to certain parts, or a blood vessel might burst. But a blow to the caput can also cause a disruption that could lead to a loss of consciousness.
Remember about the brain as house jello. The two hemispheres are heavy, and the brainstem connecting the ii hemispheres to the rest of the nervous system is narrow, like the stem of a flower. When the head is moved violently, the brain moves effectually in the skull. The heaviest part of the brain puts a lot of pressure on the brainstem, which can exist twisted and pulled during the blow as the residual of the brain moves out of place. That twisting and pulling tin crusade brain circuits to break, or lose their insulation, or get kinked upwardly, and that shuts off parts of the brain. If the part of the brainstem responsible for consciousness is affected, then you would be knocked out.
What is the difference between being knocked out and suffering a concussion?
They're related, merely not the aforementioned. People used to think that if yous didn't lose consciousness, yous didn't have to worry near being concussed. Thanks to farther research into concussions, nosotros now know that, in about 90 per centum of diagnosed concussions, there is no loss of consciousness.
During whatsoever severe accident to the head, the aforementioned matter is happening. The brain twists, the circuits tin suspension, and the harm sends the encephalon into crisis. Just unlike parts of the brain can be afflicted. Concussions typically cause vision problems, disorientation, memory loss, headaches, residual issues, and a host of other ailments equally the circuits that undergird these functions become downward. Simply as long every bit the part of the brain responsible for consciousness is minimally affected, at that place'due south no guarantee that you'll be knocked out.
What are the long term effects of being knocked unconscious?
It depends on the severity of the injury. If you lot lose consciousness briefly, and endure a concussion, 75 to 90 percent of people will fully recover in a few months. But severe harm to the brain can cause unconsciousness for days, weeks, or even longer. If in that location is internal bleeding or swelling in the brain, surgery may exist necessary to salvage pressure on the brain. Astringent injuries can also cause lasting effects that vary — including memory loss, paralysis, seizures, and lasting behavioral or cognitive changes — depending on the areas of the brain affected. But in those cases, unconsciousness is a symptom of the injury, not a cause of long term deficits.
If yous lose consciousness from a blow to the head, what is the all-time class of activity?
If the loss of consciousness is very brief — less than a minute — and the other symptoms of a concussion disappear apace, a visit to a principal care doc would be sufficient to brand sure there is no danger. If someone is knocked unconscious for more than a infinitesimal and symptoms don't fade inside a few minutes, it is important to bring them to an emergency room to get checked for a more than severe traumatic brain injury. Doctors volition bank check to make certain at that place is no internal bleeding or bruising that tin exist unsafe.
Sports have shaped our view on this topic — whether it's a knockout blow in the ring or a football game thespian who doesn't get upwardly from a bad tackle. What do sports media and the public become wrong almost being knocked unconscious or other head injuries?
I think people get a few things incorrect about concussions and unconsciousness, and they're opposing perspectives on the issue. There's 1 view that concussions are minor things, and that an athlete on the field who suffers any caput injury should toughen up and persevere. But that is not right — these are serious injuries that demand to exist addressed by a dr. or trained professional in order to prevent lasting damage. There'south another perspective, from a concerned parent or guardian, who watches their child playing a contact sport and are terrified of whatsoever accident to the head, and volition effort to prevent any gamble of injury. For athletes, immature and old, the risks of a caput injury can be mitigated by a lot of factors, including knowledgeable coaches, enforcement of rules meant to limit the risk to players, and fifty-fifty just making sure equipment is in good shape and fits properly. Those precautions tin forestall a lot of harm, and risks should be balanced with the benefits of whatever sport or concrete activity.
This question was answered by Christopher Giza every bit told to Michael Richardson for BrainFacts.org.
About the Writer
Michael Westward. Richardson
Michael W. Richardson is a writer and editor based in Brooklyn, New York, covering topics ranging from the brain and behavior to the environs.
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Source: https://www.brainfacts.org/diseases-and-disorders/injury/2018/what-happens-when-youre-knocked-unconscious-112018