Researcher: Pronger's headaches may be traced to eye injury

Flyers star defenseman Chris Pronger will visit with two Pittsburgh concussion specialists on Wednesday, and the club hopes they can explain the cause of his headaches.

A local doctor on Monday said a blow to the eye - which Pronger suffered on Oct. 24 against Toronto - can cause a concussion.

After taking an inadvertent stick to the eye and missing six games, Pronger returned and played five games. He was then sidelined because the team said he was suffering from a virus. Eighteen days later, however, they said he had concussion-like symptoms.

The Eastern Conference-leading Flyers have three players - Pronger, Brayden Schenn and Claude Giroux - who could have concussions. Giroux was hit in the back of his head in a collision with teammate Wayne Simmonds on Saturday, and the Flyers said he will miss Tuesday's game in Washington. They have not given specifics of his injury.

Schenn is sidelined indefinitely with what the club has called a "mild concussion."

Douglas Smith, director of the center for brain injury and repair at the University of Pennsylvania, said there is "no such thing" as a mild or minor concussion. He said any kind of concussion often leads to chronic headaches.

How long should a player sit out after suffering a concussion?

"I would have to sit 50 years before I went back in," he said.

Once a person has suffered a concussion, "we suspect you have a lower threshold to have an exaggerated response to another smaller hit," Smith said. "Maybe a tiny hit will be devastating because the brain has a much lower tolerance to the next hit."

The Flyers do not allow reporters to speak to trainer Jim McCrossin on any medical matters, including recovery from concussions.

When it was announced Pronger had a "virus" last month, general manager Paul Holmgren said it was not connected to the eye injury.

The veteran defenseman passed a concussion test, but the headaches continued. (In an unrelated matter, Pronger had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Dec. 2.)

Since Pronger now has concussion-like symptoms, there has been speculation that it is related to when he was hit in the eye in late October.

Smith, who has spent the last 18 years devoted to neurotrauma research, said a blow to the eye "certainly can cause rapid acceleration of the brain, which can cause a concussion."

The Flyers announced that Pronger had a "virus" and headaches on Nov. 21, which was nearly a month after he suffered the eye injury.