HEALTH & SAFETY
Concussions and Concussion Baseline Testing
Concussion Baseline Testing For MAST Athletes:
Ski racing is a contact sport. You will make violent contact with gates, but hopefully with your hands and shins. You will make contact with the snow, but hopefully gently and on your rear end. Unfortunately, there is always the risk of making contact with your head on the snow, a gate, or even another skier or snowboarder. This means that as a ski racer, you face a small but dangerous risk of suffering a concussion during your career. Wearing a helmet doesn't necessarily lower this risk, but it helps. If you do suffer a concussion, it is vitally important that you only return to play when your brain is fully healed. And the only person who can determine when your brain is healed is a health care provider who is specifically trained in concussion management. One of the tools that a health care provider might utilize to determine how well your brain has recovered is something called a concussion baseline test. Here is how it works. The athlete takes a test on a computer that is specially design to measure different areas of brain function WHEN YOUR BRAIN IS HEALTHY. Then, after a concussion and after all your symptoms have resolved, the health care provider might have you take the concussion baseline test a second time. Results from the second test will be compared to the results from the first test. If they results line up, your provider then has additional evidence that your brain has healed satisfactorily for you to begin the "return to play" protocol.
So, ALL MAST skiers need to take a concussion baseline test. Note: If you played soccer or football or volleyball this fall for MPS you most likely already took the test and you do not need to retake it. The tests are good for two years.
Ski racing is a contact sport. You will make violent contact with gates, but hopefully with your hands and shins. You will make contact with the snow, but hopefully gently and on your rear end. Unfortunately, there is always the risk of making contact with your head on the snow, a gate, or even another skier or snowboarder. This means that as a ski racer, you face a small but dangerous risk of suffering a concussion during your career. Wearing a helmet doesn't necessarily lower this risk, but it helps. If you do suffer a concussion, it is vitally important that you only return to play when your brain is fully healed. And the only person who can determine when your brain is healed is a health care provider who is specifically trained in concussion management. One of the tools that a health care provider might utilize to determine how well your brain has recovered is something called a concussion baseline test. Here is how it works. The athlete takes a test on a computer that is specially design to measure different areas of brain function WHEN YOUR BRAIN IS HEALTHY. Then, after a concussion and after all your symptoms have resolved, the health care provider might have you take the concussion baseline test a second time. Results from the second test will be compared to the results from the first test. If they results line up, your provider then has additional evidence that your brain has healed satisfactorily for you to begin the "return to play" protocol.
So, ALL MAST skiers need to take a concussion baseline test. Note: If you played soccer or football or volleyball this fall for MPS you most likely already took the test and you do not need to retake it. The tests are good for two years.