Dr Jeff Cullen (Scottish Rugby): Taking the confusion out of Concussion

The Athletic Evolution Podcast

Dr Jeff Cullen has been heavily involved in providing medical support in rugby for many years, both at club and international level. He recently contributed to an article on Concussion management on the British Journal of Sports Medicine Blog. I was privileged to work alongside him in this previous Scotland U16 and U17 Age grade programs.

In this episode Jeff discusses:

• How we should view concussion as a traumatic brain injury.

• The Symptoms and Signs of concussion to look out for.

• How concussions can develop over minutes, hours or even days.

• Why scrum caps and helmets don't necessarily reduce concussion risk.

• How concussed athletes become susceptible to future concussions.

• Why the Graded Return to Play (GRTP) is dependant on symptoms and not just time elapsed.

• The importance of knowing the correct guidelines and "If in doubt, sit them out."

You can access the Sport Scotland Concussion guidelines here: https://sportscotland.org.uk/media/3382/concussionreport2018.pdf .

You can keep up to date with Jeff by following him on Twitter: @jeffcullen0 .

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