Concussions – Managing the Risk

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Concussions – Managing the Risk

Imagine that one day you woke up and could no longer do the simple things you enjoy in life. What if you couldn’t even read the paper or watch a movie with a loved one? Many current and former athletes are suffering through this every day, and the reason for this is long-term brain damage which is a direct result of concussions. Unfortunately concussions have been rising at an alarming rate. This trend has not only been occurring in big money professional sports, but also in amateur sports like youth soccer. Concussions are quickly becoming an epidemic across the entire sporting world. Each year about 300 000 amateur and professional athletes suffer head injuries (Mcphee 1). Athletics must make some significant changes to deal with this ongoing crisis. First of all, more research must be done on concussions and athletes must be more informed about the risks they are taking. Secondly, the athletic community must look at the role of technology in sports and decide how it should be applied to help improve this situation. Finally, the governing bodies of sport must implement rule changes to protect athletes from unnecessary risks during competition. Until these issues are addressed, this alarming trend of long-term brain injury will continue throughout the sporting world.

A concussion is most often defined as a trauma induced alteration in mental status that may or may not involve loss of consciousness (Leclerc 2). Concussions can be sorted into three grades. The least serious is a grade one or mild concussion; this type of concussion occurs when there is no loss of consciousness and the posttraumatic amnesia is less than thirty minutes. The second grade of concussion is a grade two...

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Moore, Anne. “Riddell tackling school market; Helmet design aims to lessen concussions. Crain’s Chicago Business. 5 August 2002. Gen’l Reference Ctr Gold. Infotrac.

Potter, Douglass. “Effects of closed head injury on cognitive function.” University of Dundee Research Projects. 28 February 2003. <http://www.dundee.ac.uk/psychology/ddpotter/projects.html>.

Roos, Robert. “Guidelines for Managing Concussion in Sports: A Persistent Headache.” The Physician and Sports Medicine. Date of visit unknown. <http://www.physsportsmed.com/issues/oct_96/roos2.htm>.

Schnirring, Lisa. “How Effective is Computerized Concussion Management?” Physician and Sportsmedicine. Vol. 29.8, p. 11. August 2001. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost.

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