Brian Roberts ESPN interview
 

Interesting video on another athlete recovering from a concussion (not sure if this link will work). Brian Roberts has been out since May with a concussion, his second in eight months. The video shows him doing vestibular rehab exercises under the supervision of Dr. Collins.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=700...goryid=2378529

Interesting, Dr Mickey Collins, a NeuroPsychologist, when asked if Brian Roberts can make a full recovery stated that Brian Roberts not only can but WILL make a full recovery.

Classic NeuroPsych babble. Just because he may get to a high percentage of his premorbid ImPACT scores, his brain is still injured. He will be putting his future at risk by returning to the game.

But then. Mickey Collins makes a royalty for every time an athlete takes the ImPACT Test.

I've noticed so many top sportsmen having ongoing problems following concussion recently. And not just in the obvious sports either. It's probably just because I'm hyper-vigilant for it at the moment, but it's amazing how often I am seeing it.

And it's almost always played down, minimized, referred to as 'mild' etc, presumably for financial reasons.

These sports players, and the millions of people who see them as their role models and think it must be ok to get concussed and keep on playing, are all being put at risk. I was in that category, and I had no idea that this could happen. Sure I was naive, but why did noone tell me?

i agree. i always saw people get concussions and thought of it as no big deal. i guess it isnt too big of a deal if you dont get pcs from it. pcs is a huge problem though

one thing is troubling to me is when high profile athletes get concussed. it's the fact that when they return, their level of play is nowhere near where it was before they were concussed.

justin morneau, MLB. eric lindros, NHL. paul kariya NHL (he played well even after 2 concussions, but after his first never scored 50 goals again). adam deadmarsh NHL. after mike tyson was knocked out in 1990, he was never the same.

thats why this year and the following, i'll be watching sidney crosby's stats to see if he experiences a dip in production.

Update on three NHL players
 

Recent article on the significant progress made by three NHL players in their lengthy recoveries:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...rticle2180999/

What a great interview. Im definetly going to show this to friends because he says it best....about having dark days where you wonder if you are ever going to be ok again, feeling alone....all things i know we all wonder about. Maybe hearing it from a high profile athlete suffering and trying his best to recover will make it sink in for our loved ones and friends who dont understand what we are going through.

Wow! I cried watching this. He put into words so well, what I've been trying to get across to family and friends for 7 months. It's so comforting that someone is trying to get the word out.

Thanks for sharing this. I am a varsity hockey player with PCS for over 6 months. I find it "comforting" (for lack of a better word) to hear of athletes going through similar situation.

Just out of curiousity, Comeback Kid, what position do you play? I can't find it now, but there was a study done that showed centres had the highest likelihood of getting concussed (or at least reporting concussions), and goalies the least.

I don't really get what he is being asked to do in this 'vestibular theapy'. From what I can see in the video it looks like stuff that would make my brain melt (running around, catching a ball etc). Presumably this is only for when you've reached a certain level of recovery?

And he is mad for wanting to play again. After such bad pcs from two such seemingly innocuous concussions he's obviously very susceptible - and is being seriously misled by the professionals.

Brian Roberts' good recovery
 

An article on Brian Roberts's recovery (which took 13 months) and return to professional baseball:

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/201...ussion-program

"The key was not having a timetable, but focusing on steadily integrating Roberts back into the game – and life – without having a setback. ... 'The condition he has really affected his ability to deal with a lot of activity,' [Dr. Michael] Collins said. 'Certain environments would be quite provocative for him and cause him a lot of stress, and quite frankly could have set him days and even weeks at the beginning of this if he did the wrong activity. What we did was very careful systematic rehabilitation where we slowly integrated him back into these types of environments.'"