Concussion – Will staying awake save your life?

Posted 03-25-2010 4:08 am by
Concussions are normally mild and are not usually a major cause for concern, but they can be really scary.  The brain is made of soft tissue, and is surrounded by fluid and contained within your skull.

If you are hurt, especially forcefully, it can be possible for your brain to smash into the wall of your skull, leading to bruising or bleeding.  When this happens, your brain can stop functioning for some time.  That is a concussion.  Sounds bad, right?

Concussions are fairly common.  The World Health Organization Collaborating Centre Task Force on Mild Traumatic Brain Injury estimated that in the general population, concussions happen in more than six out of every thousand people.  Normally, most concussions are not serious and don't require any medical treatment.

People have been told again and again that it is very important to keep someone who has had a concussion awake.  There is a mistaken belief that someone who falls asleep with a concussion might fall into a coma and not wake up ever again.  

After a bad head injury, there can be slow bleeding.  Once the initial shock of the injury has worn off, a patient with a head bleed can appear normal for a period of time while the bleeding continues.  Once enough bleeding occurs, the brain is compressed, and emergency surgery may be necessary.

This may sound scary to you, but bleeding occurs in a very small number of head injuries.  Mild concussions usually resolve quickly, without any effects.  As a matter of fact, physicians believe that athletes can return to a game within twenty minutes after a very mild concussion.  There is no reason to believe that bleeding occurs as result of these injuries, and therefore, no concern that these people need to be watched closely.  

People that have a concussion with more concerning symptoms, such as worsening headaches, nausea, confusion, trouble walking or talking, vomiting, or even seizures, should seek immediate medical attention.  Any of these symptoms would mean you need to be evaluated at the hospital.

So basically, if you have a concussion that is deemed mild enough to seek no medical attention after evaluation, then the risk of bleeding is probably negligible, and there is no reason that you can't go to sleep.

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