#fencing response

[davidwarner3]

Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa faces calls to retire from NFL after latest concussion: 'It's not worth it'

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[macgyvermedical]

Hi! I recently discovered one of my favorite little concussion whump details has a name - the fencing reflex!

What's the scoop on the fencing reflex/ posturing? Like what does it mean is going on? Is going limp better or worse than this (stumbled upon debate on this and am struggling to Google up an answer)?

The fencing response is when someone gets hit in the head (usually during sports) and they fall with a fairly ridged body posture, with one arm bent and the other outstretched (mimicking the "en garde" position in fencing). It is thought to indicate midbrain involvement, and generally occurs in about 2/3 of mild to moderate traumatic brain injuries.

It occurs when the force of a blow manually stretches nerves in the lower part of the brain, which send motor signals that cause the posture. It is not necessarily something that the brain controls, but is triggered similarly to when an infant is allowed to fall slightly and they automatically outstretch all their limbs (called the parachute or startle response).

Going limp is not necessarily better or worse than assuming the fencing response. Both can indicate the same level of injury, and generally it is just down to whether or not certain fibers get stretched on impact. The fencing response can help in diagnosis of the injury, though, and indicate which parts of the brain may be involved.

[burket]

[newkindofclown]

They call it the fencing response:

the unnatural positioning of the arms immediately following a concussion-

as in the harder you hit me,

the greater the chance I will raise my hands to fight back.

[youtubearchive-blog-blog]

The Fencing Response Compilation Video (not for the faint of heart) "You go out; your hands go up." The fencing response is an unnatural position of the arms following a concussion. Immediately after moderate forces have been applied to the brainstem, the forearms are held flexed or extended (typically into the air) for a period lasting up to several seconds after the impact. The Fencing Response is often observed during athletic competition involving contact, such as football, hockey, rugby, boxing and martial arts. It is used as an overt indicator of injury force magnitude and midbrain localization to aid in injury identification and classification for events including, but not limited to, on-field and/or bystander observations of sports-related head injuries.