The brain controls almost all of the body’s functions, but it’s soft and fragile. The skull protects the brain on all sides from outside damage. However, a sudden impact to the head could cause the skull to injure the very thing it’s designed to protect. This is how concussions happen.
A concussion is caused by a direct or indirect blow to the head or body. While we used to think of a concussion as being “knocked out,” or losing consciousness, we now understand it as any injury to a person’s brain, even if it’s mild. Even a brief change in your mental function constitutes a brain injury that requires monitoring and protection.
A concussion from a direct blow can occur after contact with another player during an athletic event, the head making contact with a hard surface (like the ground, gym floor or ice) or being hit with a piece of athletic equipment. Indirect forces that cause concussions include mechanisms such as whiplash. Sudden speeding up or slowing down of the head during events like a car crash or while being violently shaken also causes concussions.
Concussions tend to occur most often in contact sports like football, ice hockey and lacrosse, and they can also happen in basketball, soccer and wrestling.