Former WWE Superstar Chris Nowinski continues to make progress in the world of concussions.
Chris Nowinski recently took to social media to reveal that he and his team have found a new sign of concussion that they are naming SHAAKE. Which stands for Spontaneous Headshake After A Kinematic Event.
“We have discovered a new sign of concussion that we’re naming SHAAKE, spontaneous head shake after a kinematic event,” Chris Nowinski said. “It looks like this *shakes his head*, and you’ve seen it before in movies, in cartoons, in professional wrestling, which I used to do. It’s a way to show that you’re concussed.
“Well, it turns out athletes are doing this too, but we have never considered this a sign of concussion. It doesn’t exist on the NFL list. It doesn’t exist on CDC’s list. So we designed a study where we surveyed former athletes and we asked them, have you done this before, and did you have a concussion? And it turned out, just as we suspected, that 72% of the time that you see an athlete go like this, it’s because they have a concussion.
SHAAKE is now one of the most powerful signs of a concussion
“It makes it one of the most powerful signs of concussion out there. It’s not as powerful as getting unconscious or what you know is the fencing posture, but right now, we’re pulling people off the field when we see them reach for their head or they’re slow to get up, that does not predict concussion nearly as well as SHAAKE.
“The top three reasons people do the head shake is they’re disoriented or confused. They’re dizzy, or a sign that I just wrote in there, because it was what I felt like when I did the head shake, a feeling like you need to jump-start your brain. It’s just not working. People also reported having visual problems, having ringing in their ears, and auditory changes. So head shake is not specific to any one feeling, but it’s a motion that we all have been doing for some reason because it feels right when your brain is malfunctioning because you’ve just suffered a concussion.
Will the NFL adopt SHAAKE?
“It is critical now that medical and sports organizations adopt SHAAKE as one of the possible concussion signs that necessitates removing an athlete from play and evaluating them. Another important point with SHAAKE is that usually happens within seconds or minutes of the impact, but it can happen later, as long as the symptoms are ongoing.
“So you might see it on the field, but you also might see it when the athlete goes to the bench and sits down. It also might happen behind the blue tent. It also might happen in the locker room. So we need to be vigilant in keeping our eyes on athletes that we suspect might have a concussion because this might be the only giveaway that they should not go back into the game.”
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What do you make of Chris Nowinksi’s comments? Do you think these discoveries will help the field of concussion studies in the future? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of these quotes, please credit Chris Nowinski with a link to this article for the transcription.
