Dr. Stanley Herring joined the University of Michigan Concussion Center and local and national guests on Thursday, July 22, 2021, for the virtual presentation “Youth Sports Concussion: Addressing the Athlete with Persisting Symptoms.”

His talk focused on youth athlete concussion recovery and the effect of word choice when talking to patients and how that influences an athlete’s view of their concussion and ongoing symptoms. According to Herring, the shift from discussing “persistent concussion symptoms” to “persisting concussion symptoms” provides patients with the hope and belief that they can recover from symptoms that last longer than expected. 

“The word persistent means that this exists for a long time; it’s inclined to persist and exists for a long time. It implies unremitting, unrelenting,” Herring said. “Whereas persisting continues to exist past the usual time or normal time, but does not imply unremitting or unrelenting. So what does the word persisting do? It offers hope.”

Dr. Herring is a clinical professor for the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Neurological Surgery and Orthopaedics, and Sports Medicine at the University of Washington. He is also the co-medical director of the UW Medicine Sports Concussion Program and the senior medical advisor and co-founder of The Sports Institute at UW Medicine. He serves as a team physician for the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Mariners and is a major contributor to the successful passage of the Zackery Lystedt Law in Washington State. The Zackery Lystedt Law prohibits young athletes who were suspected of sustaining a concussion from returning to the game without the approval of a licensed healthcare provider. Herring’s continued work helped pass similar legislation in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

You can view his entire presentation here.  

As part of its ongoing quarterly speaker series, the center will be welcoming Dr. John Leddy, clinical professor in the Department of Orthopaedics at the University of Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine, on Thursday, October 28, for the talk “Concussion: Physiology informs Treatment.”