With research into youth-sports concussions increasing exponentially over recent years, misinformation about the consequences of such injuries has become more prolific, too. Though studies frequently stress the need for more research before drawing a causal link between sports and long-term brain trauma, that message can be lost in translation as those findings make their way to the media.
In their new book, “Back in the Game: Why Concussion Doesn’t Have to End Your Athletic Career,” Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher and journalist Joanne Gerstner set out to dispel some of the myths regarding youth-sports concussions. They repeatedly emphasize how every concussion is different and how there isn’t a one-size-fits-all method to diagnose, treat and/or prevent concussions across athletes of all genders and ages. Instead, each athlete must be treated by a trained medical professional on a case-by-case basis, with coaches, parents and teachers all playing a vital role in the recovery of a concussed athlete, too.
Gerstner, who won a Knight-Wallace Fellowship in 2013, embedded herself with Kutcher’s neurology practice to gain a better understanding of concussions. In an interview with
