Hockey players take note: It’s not OK to return to the ice if you still have a headache caused by a concussion.
Awareness of the dangers of concussions, which are common in hockey and football, has increased now that the NFL has tightened the rules on returning to play.
According the new NFL rules, players must not play if they have any signs of confusion or cognitive impairment, gaps in memory, abnormal neurological exam results, headache, or loss of consciousness.
Two Super Bowl quarterbacks from last year are recovering from concussions.
Dr. Michael Cusimano, a neurosurgeon at Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital, found in a survey that many young Canadian hockey players and their parents didn’t realize it wasn’t safe to return to the ice post-concussion if the player still had a mild headache.
