HEAD SPACE

New guidance reveals how to spot concussion, and how best to treat it

What is a concussion? Stupid question, it's when your friend tries a new feature, hits a tree and then can't remember which trail he or she is on or who won Hardline (it was cancelled, if you're reading this in A&E). We're being flippant, but until this year, the government couldn't really do much better than that, with no UK-wide definition across different sports. To say concussion was overlooked would be an understatement.

Since March though, and thanks to a report by Parliament's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee released in March, we have new official guidelines on how to spot concussion and what to do about it. British Cycling now describes a concussion as "an injury to the brain resulting in a disturbance to brain function," with symptoms including headache, dizziness, concentration problems or balance disturbance.

This is an important step because sports and their governing bodies are increasingly looking to mitigate risks from head injuries and prove they're doing everything they can do to make things safer... and prevent litigation. The first step is to get a definition of concussion, so changes can be made to the sport and behaviours altered.

"It's really helpful because people are still in the same headspace about it as they were years ago," says Katy Curd, who suffered from concussion while racing elite-level downhill. "Even the other day I spoke to someone who'd had a massive crash, broken their helmet, and just got back on the bike and rode again. With a broken bone you can feel it, but with concussion, we just don't know what's going on."

THE GUIDELINES