Micheal Ohers Concussion is More Serious Than You May Think
There are seven games left in the regular season for the Panthers. Micheal Oher is expected to miss yet another game after being out since week 3 due to a concussion. There have been a lot of questions surrounding the incident. There were some speculations he was going to retire, but Oher ruled that out quickly. Despite his slim chances of getting back to action, the Panthers are still hoping he will return.
Oher has spent 47 days in the protocol missing six games. It turns out that this is more than your normal concussion situation in the NFL. A few weeks after meeting with a neurologist, Oher said he is experiencing sensitivity to light, as well as issues involving his vestibular ocular system.
He just recently visited another highly regarded clinic in Pittsburgh. Vernon Williams, a neurologist and director of the Kerlan-Jobe Center for Sports Neurology and Pain Medicine in Los Angeles, says that occular related symptoms are common in athletes after coming down with a concussion. People can have troubles focusing and following objects. He admits that athletes (both professional and high school) should be symptom free after 10 to 14 days.
“So this is a long time. There’s no question about that,” Williams said. “But it doesn’t mean these won’t resolve because they certainly can. It just requires an ongoing search for what’s generating the ongoing symptoms.”
Oher, 30, first complained of concussion symptoms the last day of September. It is inferred that he got the concussion week 2 and aggravated it week 3 or got it at the beginning of the third game. Oher struggling was easily noticed as he only stopping three sacks and got docked with a couple of penalties.
“We’re not putting any pressure on Michael to hurry back. We’re just (waiting) in case he’s available,” Rivera said. “It’s really hard to find (tackles). So we just thought we would hold on to see what the doctors have to say.”
Oher has not been practicing at all the last few weeks and has only appeared at the stadium a couple of times to watch players. Teammates have been texting him.
