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#SRHaccess Facebook Live Recap: Concussions

by | Sep 13, 2018 | Sports Medicine

On this week’s Facebook live, staff physician of the Center for Excellence in Sports Medicine, Shane M. Miller, M.D. joined us to discuss sports-related concussions in honor of #TeamUpSpeakUp Day and Sports Medicine Month.
 
Watch the Facebook live.
 
What is #TeamUpSpeakUp?

  • The core message: athletes have a responsibility to report to a team leader if they notice a teammate with concussion symptoms.
  • A good teammate is going to watch out for concussion symptoms amongst their fellow teammates, rather letting them continue to play. If you see something, say something!
  • Pledge to play your part and #TeamUpSpeakUp to fight concussions on the Concussion Legacy Foundations website.

What are some of the repercussions if athletes continue to play with a concussion?

  • Athletes who continue to play with a brain injury are more likely to put themselves at risk for worse injury such as second impact syndrome.
  • Second impact syndrome is a very rare condition in which a second concussion occurs before the initial first concussion has properly healed, causing rapid and severe brain swelling and often catastrophic results. Second impact syndrome can result from even a very mild concussion that occurs days or weeks after the initial concussion.

 
What every parent, coach and young athlete needs to know about sports-related concussions:

  • A concussion is a brain injury that disrupts normal brain function. The usual cause is a sudden blow to the head, neck, or body that shakes the brain, damages cells and creates chemical changes. Knowing if and when a concussion occurs is very important, and there are many dangers to an athlete returning to play before their concussion is fully healed. These dangers include:
    • Additional signs and symptoms
    • Greater severity of signs and symptoms
    • Longer recovery time
    • Greater risk of an additional concussion
    • Long-term brain impairment

What is the importance of reporting a sports-related concussion?

  • About 40% of athletes who suffer from a sports-related concussion continue to play their sport because they do not recognize they are suffering from a brain injury.
  • It’s important for us to #TeamUpSpeakUp, because we simply cannot completely rely on an athlete to self-report a brain injury. Everyone has to work together to insure the safety and well-being of the athlete.

What are some of the symptoms that spectators, players and/or coaches should look for with concussions?

SIGNS
The athlete may:

  • Appear dazed or stunned
  • Appear confused
  • Forget plays
  • Exhibit unsteadiness
  • Lose consciousness
  • Appear sleepier or more tired than usual
  • Seem sad, nervous or anxious

SYMPTOMS 
The athlete may complain of:

  • Headaches
  • Concentration or memory problems
  • Nausea
  • Balance problems or dizziness
  • Double or blurred vision
  • Sensitivity to light or noise
  • Confusion

 How long is the typical recovery time for athletes to return to their sport?

  • 80% of young athletes will recover from their brain injury within three to four weeks.

 Will all the sports medicine services provided at the current Plano campus be available at the new Frisco campus?

  • Yes, plus more! Everything our North Campus offers is going to be moving to the new Frisco campus. We are expanding quite a bit at this campus by providing general orthopedics in hip disorders, scoliosis screening, foot and ankle, shoulder care, along with physical therapy and research in addition to the expansion of our Sports Medicine practice.

What are some of the new services the Frisco Campus will provide?

  • Increased space to utilize more resources for expanded services
  • Operating rooms for day surgeries
  • Movement science lab
  • Physical therapy gym space
  • Overall clinical care advancements and updates to current services

Education regarding the various signs, symptoms and dangers of returning to play too early are crucial for parents, coaches and young athletes. If you notice a bad hit, or any of the signs and symptoms listed above in your athlete or their teammates this season, please speak up. It takes a team to protect our young athletes from concussions.
 

#SRHaccess Facebook LIVE Recap: Sports Nutrition and Wellness

#SRHaccess Facebook LIVE Recap: Sports Nutrition and Wellness

by | Apr 4, 2018 | Sports Medicine

On this week’s Facebook live, the hospital’s Director of Wellness Taylor Morrison, M.S., R.D., L.D.  joined us to discuss her role with our sports medicine patients and overall wellness at the hospital. Below is a recap of the conversation.

Watch the live segment. 

What is her role with our patients?

  • She is a sports dietician who works specifically with our sports medicine patients.
  • She has appointments at our Plano campus every first, second and third Fridays of the month.
  • Provides guidance and education on meal plans tailored to the athlete depending on their sport, age, weight and development stage.

What are the most common issues seen in young athletes?

  • Stress fractures from high level training and overuse injuries.
  • From high intensity training or multisport involvement, many athletes are not taking in enough calories.
  • As the athlete grows and develops, their body requires more calories to have sufficient energy to perform.
  • Young athletes skipping meals.

Calcium and Vitamin D deficiencies in young athletes – what foods can help with this?

  • Best sources of calcium: milk, yogurt and cheese
  • By meeting with the nutritionist, if your child does not like these options, she will help you be creative in finding ways to incorporate calcium and vitamin D into their diet.
    • Smoothie, oatmeal made with milk, etc.

What should parents know about making an appointment with the sports nutritionist? 

  • She only sees sports medicine patients who have a referral from their physician at Scottish Rite Hospital.
  • Once the referral comes through, the athlete is scheduled for a clinic visit with the nutritionist.

Athletes who are vegetarians:

  • Provide education to the athletes and caregivers on being creative when it comes to meals to make sure they are getting all the nutrients needed to be successful.
  • Learn more from our blog.

Wellness at the hospital:

  • Healthier option offered each day.
  • Different stations: pre-made sandwiches, grill, deli, salad bar and other options.
  • ‘Eat Rite’ logo designates the food as a healthy option. Dietitians at the hospital evaluate the meal to make sure it meets certain criteria as a healthy food.
  • Dieticians work closely with the hospitals’ chefs to make tasty and healthy options.
  • Examples of healthy options include:
    • Grab & go salads and sandwiches
    • Pretzels and hummus
    • Vegetarian and vegan soups
Beyond the Basics: Keeping Young Athletes Safe in Winter Sports

Beyond the Basics: Keeping Young Athletes Safe in Winter Sports

by | Feb 8, 2018 | Sports Medicine

It’s well known that each sport has its own rules and regulations. These are meant to protect participants from known risks and injuries. For example, in snow skiing and snowboarding, helmets are certainly the most important piece of equipment to reduce the severity of head injury with falls. This is especially true for faster, more experienced skiers. Wrist guards are also a top priority to prevent broken bones during falls while snowboarding.

Large joints, like the shoulder, knee and ankle, are at risk for injuries during falls and with extreme motions that occur with near-falls in snow sports. General fitness, cross-training and pre-season preparation, all in partnership with sport-specific safety training, will lead to improved body control and potentially, fewer falls. Watch this video of Henry Ellis, M.D., talking about his experience as a team physician for the U.S. Ski Team and their off-season training habits.

Researchers continue to look at non-contact knee injuries in sports like soccer and basketball. As with snow skiing and snowboarding, these sports put the knee at risk for injury when the leg is planted and twisted with the knee in a slightly flexed position. Training programs can prepare athletes to better control their knees in these risky positions. Strengthening leg and trunk muscles also improves stability and control. Improved control leads to lower risk of injury.

Injury prevention is not just about following the rules and wearing the proper equipment. Here are our suggestions to help your young athlete safely enjoy many sports:

  • Endurance training prevents early fatigue, which is known to cause falls and injuries in any sport. Ride a bicycle or run to improve your cardiovascular and muscle endurance.
  • Leg strengthening exercises create balance around the hip and knee joints. Use resistance exercises to strengthen on all major muscle groups of the legs.
  • Upper body strengthening exercises create stability for the shoulder, a very mobile joint. Perform weight-bearing activities to strengthen the upper back and stabilize the shoulder blade.
  • Core strengthening provides stability that helps with balance as well as proper form. Perform traditional abdominal strengthening exercises as well as activities that incorporate the entire body.
  • Plyometric activities improve neuromuscular control in dynamic positions. Perform jumping and landing exercises with a focus on control and proper form.

For information about injury prevention and pediatric sports medicine, please visit our website at Scottish Rite.

#SRHaccess Facebook LIVE Recap: The Future Frisco Campus

#SRHaccess Facebook LIVE Recap: The Future Frisco Campus

by | Oct 25, 2017 | Sports Medicine

On this week’s Facebook live, Vice President of North Campus Jeremy Howell and Assistant Chief of Staff Philip L. Wilson, M.D. joined us to discuss the future Frisco campus. Below is a recap of the conversation.

Watch this segment on Facebook.

Construction update:

  • The construction is running right on schedule.
  • Opening in the Fall of 2018

Who are our Frisco neighbors?

  • The Frisco campus is located on the northeast corner of Lebanon Road and Dallas North Tollway.
  • To the north, our direct neighbor is Frisco High School.
  • To the south is the new Wade Park development and the Frisco Star.

What is the difference between the Plano and the future Frisco campus?

  • Increased space to utilize more resources for expand services.
  • Operating rooms for day surgeries
  • Motion science lab
  • Physical therapy gym space
  • Overall clinical care advancements and updates to current services.

Facts about the structure:

  • 5 stories tall
  • 1st floor:
    • Conference rooms for community and physician education and outreach
    • State-of-the-art motion science lab for clinical and research purposes
    • Physical therapy gym to rehab sports injuries and general orthopedic conditions
  • 2nd floor:  
    • Outpatient clinics (sports medicine, fracture clinic, general orthopedics, orthotics and prosthetics)
  • 3rd floor: shelled for future growth
  • 4th floor: day surgery
  • 5th floor: offices for staff

What are the general orthopedic services that will be provided?

  • An expansion of what the team currently cares for at the Plano campus.
  • Hip disorders, scoliosis screening, foot and ankle, shoulder care, etc.

What is the benefit of being in Frisco?

  • 25% of the hospital’s patient population lives in a surrounding areas of Frisco.
  • The opportunity to enhance customer service by providing another point of access for our patients and their families to be cared for by our world-renowned specialists.
  • Frisco is a strong sports community. The Center for Excellence in Sports Medicine will be the anchor to the future campus, which will allow us to care for more athletes.

What will the state-of-the-art motion science lab offer at the new campus?

  • The lab will provide a better understanding of clinical problems of lower and upper extremity conditions whether a sports injury or general orthopedic condition.
  • The ability to analyze the function of each joint and muscle of a patient’s walking gait or throwing mechanics.
  • The opportunity to expand on various research projects.

Will the Scottish Rite Hospital traditions be present at the future campus?

  • Popcorn – yes, on the first floor in the atrium.
  • Volunteers – yes, in red coats just like at the main campus.
Jesus’ Moment – Sports Medicine

Jesus’ Moment – Sports Medicine

by | Oct 2, 2017 | Sports Medicine

Jesus has loved soccer since age 6. When he turned 12, a torn ACL took him out of the game. Thankfully, Jesus was in the hands of Scottish Rite Hospital sports medicine physicians who repaired his knee and got him back on the field – goal scored!

Give a child their moment: A contribution of $200 helps support the treatment and therapy of a young athlete receiving care from the hospital’s Center for Excellence in Sports Medicine. To donate or learn more, visit scottishritehospital.org/donate/more-ways-to-give/.

For more information on our Center for Excellence in Sports Medicine, visit scottishritehospital.org/sports.

FOX 4: Study finds concussion concerns for girls

FOX 4: Study finds concussion concerns for girls

by | Sep 15, 2017 | Press Coverage, Sports Medicine

Visit FOX 4’s website to watch Miller’s full interview and learn more about the importance of following proper concussion protocol.

A new study found girls were significantly more likely than boys to return to play
the same day following a soccer-related concussion, placing them at risk for more significant
injury.

The study examined young athletes, average age 14, who sustained a concussion while playing
soccer and who were treated at a pediatric sports medicine clinic in Texas. Of the 87 athletes
diagnosed with a soccer-related concussion, two-thirds (66.7 percent) were girls. Among them,
more than half (51.7 percent) resumed playing in a game or practice the same day as their injury,
compared to just 17.2 percent of boys.

“The girl soccer players were 5 times more likely than boys to return to play on the same day as
their concussion,” said Shane M. Miller, MD, FAAP, senior author of the abstract and a sports
medicine physician at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. “This is cause for concern,
especially with previous studies showing that girls suffer twice as many concussions as boys,” he
said.

“Consistent with our findings in other sports, young soccer players are returning to play on the
same day despite recommendations from medical organizations, such as the American Academy
of Pediatrics, and laws in all 50 states intended to protect their growing brains,” he said. “Despite
increased concerns about the risks of concussions, the culture among athletes to tough it out and
play through an injury often takes priority over the importance of reporting an injury and coming
out of a game or practice.”