Another Gronk conk could be dangerous
Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has two weeks until the Super Bowl to recover from Sunday’s concussion — but head injuries can take months to heal, and a second blow to the head could have dire consequences.
“Here’s the deal: If you have had one of these injuries, you are at greatly increased risk for a second injury, and those are the ones to be very concerned about,” said Dr. Lee E. Goldstein, neurologist and associate professor at the Boston University School of Medicine.
“It can take weeks, a month or much longer to heal.”
Goldstein said he cannot comment on Gronkowski’s specific case. But last week, the doctor published a ground-breaking study showing that even mild head trauma — less severe than a concussion — can lead to the brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.
As the first half of Sunday’s game against the Jaguars came to a close, Gronkowski suffered a helmet-to-helmet hit from Jacksonville safety Barry Church.
Gronkowski is now on concussion protocol. But Goldstein said there is simply no way to know for sure if a brain injury is fully healed.
“I can tell you if the brain is not healed from the first injury, and one sustains a second injury, the injury can be greatly exacerbated. And how do you know? There is no way to know yet,” Goldstein said.
“Just being cleared by a protocol doesn’t tell us anything.”
But as far as concussion protocol goes, the NFL’s is intensive and includes daily check-ups to monitor symptoms, said Dr. Douglas Comeau of the Ryan Center for Sports Medicine at Boston University.
Patients are evaluated based on a 22-symptom list that includes headaches, vision changes, difficulty concentrating and sensitivity to light.
Though some of it is selfreported, patients are also given balance and eye-tracking tests.
Comeau added that if someone suffers another head injury while still experiencing symptoms, it could lead to “second-impact syndrome” — which, in some cases, can cause death.
The upside is that most concussions heal within seven to 10 days, he said — though it varies based on the person.
“Sports medicine physicians, we don’t know on an individual basis when someone is going to be symptomfree,” he said.
“But fingers crossed.”