A closed head injury can happen in any sport--or even when slipping in the shower. Often, people don't even know they've suffered one until it is too late. How do you know if you have one? Here's how.A closed head injury can happen when you come off your horse while horse riding training or horse jumping. Even just riding around the arena can put you at risk. So that is why this article caught my attention. This rider's actions after falling off her horse put her at risk of serious brain damage--even though she was wearing a helmet. The April 2009 issue of EQUUS magazine featured an incredible story about a young woman whose horse collapsed while she was riding in an indoor arena alone at night. The woman hit her helmeted head hard enough on the arena floor to black out, and could barely move when she came around. If that isn’t bad enough, this is where the story gets really scary. Rather than calling the paramedics, she decided she needed to get back on the horse so she wouldn’t be afraid to ride again. (That’s what we’ve all been told, right?) Then she untacked her horse, and drove herself to the ER. Yes, she drove herself to the ER. At the ER, she found she only had suffered a concussion. She was lucky. What could have happened is much worse: a closed head injury. Natasha Richardson (Liam Neeson’s wife) recently died of just such an injury following a skiing accident. If you hit your head hard, there is a chance that the brain itself or it’s blood vessels are damaged. This can cause bleeding and swelling in the brain. As the brain continues to swell with no way out (of the skull), brain damage, coma, or ultimately death can result. These kinds of injuries are deceptive because the person usually thinks she just has a “goose egg” on her head, and takes a few aspirin, thinking she’ll be better in the morning. The safe thing to do if you suffer a head injury is to head to the ER to see if you need to have a CAT scan done.
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