When it comes to brain concussions, women suffer more incidents, have more severe symptoms and are slower to recover than men.
This means while the focus has been on male sports head injuries, research is beginning to come to terms with an actual gender difference when it comes to brain concussions.
Brain Concussion Occurrence
When a concussion occurs, it means that the brain endures a rapid shaking within the skull due to a sudden and unexpected movement. This causes bruised or broken blood vessels or nerve damage. Unconsciousness may occur but not necessarily.
Depending on the source of a sudden and unexpected shaking of the brain, it can result in a mild concussion which requires time to heal or a more traumatic brain injury affecting brain functioning from mild to severe damage.
Brain Concussions Events
Sports immediately come to mind with the possibilities of being hit in the head by an object or an opponent. At the same time, head bunting a ball is acceptable in soccer and volleyball. Also, women participating in boxing and wrestling are susceptible as well.
The military is quite interested in brain concussions as they see more women incur injuries during training and anticipate it as an issue for women combat soldiers.
Concussions also occur from abusive relationships, as well as, assaults, auto accidents and accidental falls where there is a hard surface blow to the head.
The most common symptoms following a concussion episode are –
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Vomiting
- Blurry vision
- Difficulty concentrating
- Motor control and balance problems
These symptoms can continue after an event. It’s always recommended to seek medical attention to monitor symptoms or check for severity of an injury.
The Gender Difference
Healthcare professionals and researchers noticed an alarming change. More women, especially young female athletes, were being diagnosed with far more brain concussion injuries than their male counterparts.
Not only was there an increase in concussion incidents, but also symptoms specific to women were observed.
- greater sensitivity to light
- greater sensitivity to noises
- on-going nauseousness
- vulnerability to migraines
- longer recovery time before normal activity occurred
Possible Reasons for a Gender Difference
Among the possible explanations include:
- Physically, neck and neck muscles are more vulnerable because of less support and strength as compared to males
- There may be an issue of how blood flows to the brain
- The most curious relationship is that prior to puberty, the concussion rate is similar between males and females. After puberty, incidents increase for females. It’s suggested that hormonal changes of estrogen and the menstrual cycle have an effect. Incidents return to gender parity after menopause.
What a Concussion Can Mean for You
If you recognize having any of these gender symptoms, they might be related to a head injury you might not have thought of as being a concussion.
It’s also possible that injury events over time can have a compounding effect. This is especially true if you’ve engaged in athletic events where you have been exposed to on-going concussion conditions. Or, if a recent event has damaged an old injury area.
Awareness is also key if you have daughters or granddaughters who are entering sports at younger ages or deciding to engage in more aggressive sports. It’s important to consider:
The highest concussion rates per sport are –
- Wrestling (female wrestlers are increasing)
- Ice Hockey (males and females)
- Football (females are seeking to participate more)
The concussion rate for females is higher to males in these sports –
- Ice Hockey
- Soccer
- Basketball
- Baseball and Softball
- Lacrosse
- Males have only a slightly higher concussion rate in swimming and diving
According to, Marjorie A. Snyder, senior director of research for the Women’s Sports Foundation,
“The federal government must play a role in this national issue, as well. Congress has failed to act on childhood concussions, allowing the much-needed ConTACT Act (Concussion Treatment and Care Tools Act) to languish for six years without a vote into law. The ConTACT Act calls for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to adopt national guidelines for identifying possible concussions in young athletes, and strict rules about when and under what circumstances injured players should participate in practices and games.”
Do you think you’ve ever experienced a concussion?
Sources:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/concussions-affect-women-more-adversely-than-men/
https://gumc.georgetown.edu/news/Summit-Explores-Unanswered-Questions-in-Female-Concussion-Research
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this is such an important post Joyce. I know that more and more people are experiencing these concussions and most pass it off as temporary. Thanks for bringing it to the forefront.. for men AND women
We all need to pay more attention that this is not a sports only or a male only condition. Thanks for commenting Alene.
Very informative post Joyce! This is so important to know about concussions and how they affect women different from men 🙂 Thank you for sharing!
Your welcome, Joan. Spread the word. Women need to pay attention to this.
Interesting article, Joyce. I truly dislike how dangerous so many sports have become, and how we subject our children to those dangers at such a vulnerable age. Thanks for opening this discussion, especially on how it relates to women.
Your welcome, Reba. I’m sure there are mental health issues that go unrecognized because of concussions, even though the event may have occurred years earlier.
I’ve had two bad concussions, both in teenage-hood. So this scares me a bit! But very interesting, the differences in the genders.
As we watch all the football players succumb to CTE, hopefully we’ll take stronger precautions.
Fortunately, we are becoming more aware of the potential problems that concussions can cause. It’s always something to pay attention to and discuss with a health professional. The NFL has finally had to admit to the problem it causes for its players, but other sports athletes are also susceptible. A lot of sports authorities, coaches and trainers are starting to pay attention and are discussing contact rule changes that should help to alleviate some of these problems.
I haven’t experience a concussion but when my daughter was in color guard (band), many of her friends had concussions from flags hitting them in the head. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.
That’s interesting. I would never have thought of the concussion potential from being hit in the head by flags. Thanks for sharing and glad to hear your daughter escaped any flags hitting her head.
I didn’t even need to play a sport to get a concussion. I tripped and hit my head on some wooden sleepers earlier this year and it took several days, more like a week actually, before the headaches disappeared. I’m coming out of the other side of menopause now so I’m not sure if I experienced a gender difference. I had no idea there was a difference – good to know for the Goddesses.
Okay, just to clarify – what are wooden sleepers? I did a Google search and came up with some interesting options. None of which sounded like a cause for a concussion. So, I’m assuming it was obviously something serious enough to give on on-going headaches. Most concussions heal with time, but it’s always wise to check with a health care professional to make sure everything is healing properly. Take care and I hope this is your last incident.
I’ve been hearing more concerns about this related to men in sports. This is the first time I have read about the women. Thank you for sharing. I wish all the sports associations would make safety a priority and I don’t think they do. Actually the doctors for all these leagues should be reprimanded.
Lydia, yes your right this has taken a long time to come to the public’s attention. The public still seems to think it’s only a football problem. Sports personnel are starting to take this more seriously for other types of players, but we still need to get the word out about female players.