Millions watch it online.. Slapping matches expose participants to concussions

Mark
Written By Mark

A recent American study found that “slap fighting” competitions are linked to concussions in participants.

The study was conducted by experts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in the United States, and was published in a research paper in the journal JAMA Surgery, and was written about by the EurekAlert website.

The researchers analyzed visual signs of concussion in individuals participating in slap fighting competitions.

This is the first academic study to provide a quantitative assessment of the potential risks associated with this activity.

“Slapping competitions may be entertaining to watch for the casual viewer, but as medical professionals, we found some aspects of the competitions to be disturbing,” said author Dr Raj Swarup Lavadi.

The researchers analyzed videos of slapping matches to identify signs of concussion.

What are slapping matches?

Slapping matches are a new trend that millions of people follow online. In these matches, competitors are separated by a waist-level platform, and the two competitors face each other, where the opponents take turns delivering crushing blows with an open hand to each other’s face. According to the official rules, the participant has a few moments to recover, and the fight continues until one of the participants falls, or until the judges decide the winner.

The medical community has expressed serious concerns about the potential risks to participants from head injuries and brain trauma, but to date no peer-reviewed study has attempted to record and quantify the risks.

To assess the severity of slap fights, reviewers watched videos of slap fights and analyzed 333 slaps. They recorded visual signs of concussion—ranging from decreased awareness of the environment to complete loss of responsiveness—and analyzed how often these events occurred.

According to the analysis, more than half of the slaps resulted in visible signs of concussion in the participants. By the end of their matches, nearly 40 percent of the slaps resulted in signs of poor motor coordination, about a third of the slaps resulted in participants looking blank and empty, and a quarter of the slaps resulted in participants being slow to get up after being knocked down. Nearly 80 percent of the fighters showed a visible sign of concussion at least once in the series of matches.

The results paint a worrying picture for the participants’ long-term well-being.

“Clinically, concussions can present in different ways, but each can result in short- or long-term disability,” said researcher Dr. Nitin Agrawal, associate professor of neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh. “As a physician with knowledge of martial arts and a passion for combat sports, I continue to be concerned about the frequency of concussion symptoms among fighters who deliver blows.”

A concussion is a temporary brain injury caused by either a direct blow to the head or an object that causes your head to shake back and forth. This causes your brain to move slightly inside the skull and cause some injury, according to the UK’s National Health Service.

Concussion is a very common injury, affecting about 1 in 4 people. Most people will feel better within 2 weeks.

It is important to monitor a person after a concussion, because it may cause future problems with memory, speech, concentration, coordination, hearing, and vision in some people.

Concussion symptoms

Signs and symptoms generally begin immediately after infection, but some may not appear until hours or days later.

Things to watch out for are:

  • headache
  • nausea
  • vomiting
  • vertigo
  • blurred vision
  • Sensitivity to light and noise
  • amazement
  • loss of consciousness (even briefly)
  • changes in mood or behavior

If there are symptoms or any doubts about the condition of the injured person, a doctor or emergency room should be consulted immediately.