Molesting the Melon! Understanding Head Trauma

Here is an article I wrote and added to my patreon site. I think it is an important topic for all martial artists.

http://patreon.com/mantismastersacademy

Headhunters Beware!!!
It is important as responsible adults to understand the dangers associated with the martial arts techniques that we employ against an attacker. So, here are four dangers associated with strikes to the head.

Concussions
A concussion is an injury to the brain caused by any blunt force trauma to the head. The medical term for concussion is minor traumatic brain injury. A concussion can occur when any part of the head is struck forcefully.

Concussion occurs when a blow or impact to the head causes a sudden disruption to part of the brain known as the reticular activating system (RAS), located in the middle of your brain. The RAS helps regulate your sense of awareness and consciousness.

When the brain is forced out of its normal position for a short time, such as: through an uppercut strike to the jaw or a hammer-fist strike to the back of the head, a whiplash effect takes place. This causes the brain to impact the inside of the skull. This can cause a disruption to the electrical activities of the brain cells in the middle of the brain that regulates your sense of awareness and consciousness.

Typical signs of a concussion due to traumatic brain injury include: loss of consciousness, confusion, disturbances with vision and difficulties with memory.

Fractured Skull
The skull is composed of both the facial bones and the cranium. The skull proper is composed of twenty-two bones. The cranium is a subdivision of the skull and is made up of eight bones, which are located at the top of the head. A skull fracture is a break in any one or more of these bones. It is typically caused by blunt force trauma.

The three major signs of a skull fracture are: swelling and tenderness surrounding the area of impact, facial bruising, bleeding from the nostrils or ears. There are many minor symptoms of a skull fracture. Some are as simple as a headache, nausea, or blurred vision.

Two of the most common areas injured through martial arts strikes are the area we refer to as the temples (the fissures and sutures between the temporal bone and other cranial bones) and the face (zygomas (cheekbones), orbital bones (eye sockets), nasal bones, maxillary bones (upper jaw) and mandible (lower jaw)).

Epidural Hematoma
An epidural hematoma may be caused by a strike to the side of the head. Epidural hematomas occur when an artery (often the middle meningeal artery) is injured and arterial blood accumulates between the dense connective tissue that surrounds the brain and the skull.

Subdural Hematoma
A subdural hematoma is caused by the tearing of bridging veins during rapid or sudden changes in the velocity of the head. This causes an accumulation of venous blood between the dense connective tissue (dura) that surrounds the brain and the second protective layer of tissue (arachnoid membrane) that surrounds the brain.

Food for thought
A concussion can prove life altering, while skull fractures, epidural hematomas and subdural hematomas can rapidly become life-threatening. So, train smart. Always use protective head gear and limit the number of strikes to the head you receive and deliver.
“If in doubt, check it out!” should be the rule with all head injuries.

Thank you to Dr. Viet Le DO, MS and Dr. John Thompson MD who served as consultants for this article! Dr. Le specializes in neurology, while Dr. Thompson specializes in internal medicine. Dr. Le is also an accomplished martial artist and disciple of Master Jason Tsou of the Wu Tang organization. Dr. Thompson has the dubious honor of being my brother-in-law. :)