Protecting the Head: Then and Now Technology has improved innumerable sectors in industries such as sports. Stadiums, scoreboards, sound systems, training facilities, athletic wear, and protective equipment have been upgraded over the last few decades. Specifically, technology has improved protective equipment to keep athletes safe. Currently, some of the most worrisome injuries are concussions and other head injuries; they occur in all different types of sports and activities, but the highest amount of head injuries occur in football (Stone). For this reason, protective headgear is of the highest importance for professional and nonprofessional football players. New discoveries about brain injuries have made a priority to protect the head. …show more content…
Mouthguards were not made mandatory for high school football players until 1962; college football teams did not require mouthguards until 1973 ("The History of Athletic Mouthguards"). Overall, any mouthguard is better than no mouthguard. “Athletes who don’t wear a mouthguard are 60% more likely to suffer damage to the mouth” ("The History of Athletic Mouthguards"). Playing football without a mouthguard leads to mouth injuries since constant bumping and jarring to the head cause interior and exterior mouth damage. The few mouthguards that were used in 1965 were made of latex and not fitted for the individual’s mouth ("The History of Athletic Mouthguards"). Because they were not fitted, the mouthguards usually were uncomfortable and did not protect as well as fitted mouthguards. Today, every high school and college football player is required to wear a mouthguard. Most NFL players also wear mouthguards, although wearing one is not mandatory ("The History of Athletic Mouthguards"). But, wearing a mouthguard while playing the fast game of professional football would be a good idea. When people think of mouthguards, they think mouthguards simply protect the teeth. However, studies have shown newer, custom made, polyethylene mouthguards are also more likely to protect against concussions compared to store bought mouthguards (Stone). Custom made mouthguards are fitted to the player's teeth …show more content…
The first hard plastic helmet was invented in 1939, and by 1965 every player in the NFL wore a hard but thin plastic helmet with a one plastic bar face mask along the front of the helmet (Stamp). These hard plastic helmets were an upgrade compared to the old leather ones, but were not completely capable of protecting the head. The helmets were spherical shaped and only had a hole for each ear. Players fifty years ago often had concussions, bloody lips, broken noses, and other head injuries (Stamp). The one bar facemask, although safer than the previous trend of wearing no face mask, did not protect the nose and eyes from certain injuries. Players fifty years ago often had concussions, bloody lips, broken noses, and other head injuries. Like 1965, Riddell is still the official helmet of the NFL; today their helmets have parts on the side which are thicker and have extra holes on the exterior of the helmet (Stamp). Newer helmets have this structure because certain parts of the helmet add extra protection. The holes on the exterior are for ventilating and keeping the head cool. Current face masks have multiple bars which cover the whole face and are made of hard metal (Stamp). These newer style face masks protect all parts of the face and are strong enough to withstand hits in the NFL. Present day helmets are also specifically designed to prevent concussions by protecting the side of the
Wearing headgear has many positives, reducing injuries is the most obvious one and it could be argued that its help reduces the chance of injuries and even death. At an elite level, Chelsea goalkeeper, Petr Cech is convinced that wearing headgear saved him from suffering extended injuries after colliding with Fulham striker Orlando Sa back in September 2011. Headgear offers a form of padding when worn. It allows juniors and elite athlete’s the reduced chance of head wounds. By this it means it allows for less “cracked skulls”, scars, wounds and so on. It gives a stronger protection on the softer part of the skull which is more prone to damage...
Football is a sport your mother warns you not to play, but your father is on the other side of the argument, encouraging you to do it because it is a “man’s game”. Even though you don’t want ruin your manhood, your mother is always right. Football is in the top three of most injuries caused in sports (HEALTH GRADES, INC) and a majority of it comes from concussions. A concussion is a temporary unconsciousness caused by a blow to the head. Football helmets are used to prevent that from happening and is still a battle today on creating the perfect helmet to protect these young athletes. The football helmet has undergone significant transformation during the evolution of the game. To find out how this important head gear came to be, you have to
Players are using their heads as a weapon which is careless, dangerous, and should be banned from the sport. A lot of time and money has been invested in improving football helmets. Quinn and Brachmann emphasizes that “There’s a strongly held belief that no matter how much time and money is invested into research and development there will never be a helmet that is truly concussion-proof ” (Quinn and Brachmann). Helmets have been effective in preventing skull fractures, but not concussions. Helmet manufacturers are researching and trying to develop safer protective head
“History of Football Helmets.” Live Strong. 26May 2011. 27 Feb. 2012. Forthofer.
First, the rules that are enforced are a great way of making the game safe for the players. There are rules like, not being allowed to tackle certain ways. For example, if you tackle someone from the back by pulling them, then that is said to be an illegal tackle. It is also said that it is illegal for someone to pull on others facemask when tackling. There are many others rules that are enforced in the game. Another one is the rule that says, Head to Head is not allowed. What that basically is that you cannot tackle someone by contacting your helmet to the opposing player. This rule makes it greatly safe because it reduces the numbers of injuries that occur to the head and the neck. The head is the key part of the human body. When someone hits another player with the helmet in the head, it reduces the risks of concussion and that can result to serious and severe body failures, including being...
B. Research Questions The research questions being proposed in this paper include but are not limited to the following: How well do helmets prevent concussions from occurring and prevent the development of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)? Is there one helmet that is better at protecting players against concussions than the others on the market? Is there any protective equipment besides helmets that football players should be wearing to prevent concussions? What is the current National Football League (NFL) concussion protocol?
("N.F.L. Players’ Union Weighs the Benefits and the Pitfalls of Helmet Sensors. This technology helps prevent a player with a concussion that he doesn’t know about from continuing to play during that game and cause more damage to his head that can last forever. Another good advancement is helmets that have a design that uses energy-managing materials and a facemask attachment system that disperses energy from frontal impacts. This helps prevent the head from taking the main part of the blow and disperses the energy to lessen the likelihood of becoming seriously injured from a hit. These types of helmets have a certain shelf life meaning you can only use them for so many years before they have to be replaced, this is beneficial so that the equipment stays up to the new standards of safety for the players as well as prevents them from becoming stressed over the years and breaking.
Concussions have become arguably the #1 most prevalent issue in football today. The number of concussions throughout football has been rising for the past 20-30 years and there seems no way of stopping them. However, the NFL and many private researchers are set on finding a way to conquer this issue. They want to stop these concussions from happening and prevent the diseases resulting from them that have ruined so many football families’ lives. In order to solve this problem, I think that these researchers need to combine all of their knowledge to solve an issue that so many want solved. As soon as we conquer this “illness” we can return to enjoying the game that we love.
6. No matter what helmet players are wearing they are all susceptible to concussions, especially if the rules to not protect player well enough.
Football is one of the most popular sports in the world. It is played in a lot of different ways, fashions, and other countries. It can be a very brutal sport with players hitting at the intent to hurt one another. With these intents come great consequences. In recent years the head injuries involved with this brutal game play have been getting uncomfortably high. Many rules have had to be enforced for player safety, because of the increase of head injuries resulting in tragic effects on players both old and new. One of the injuries that have had the most devastating effects is the concussion.
Football is one sport that has scientists working around the clock on finding the perfect solution to help decrease concussions. Scientist, Vincent Farrara, created the Xenith X1 Helmet in 2004. Ferrara used to be a quarterback for Harv...
Playing Sports Without A Mouth Guard: Unless you're looking to get dental implants, playing contact sports such as hockey or football without a mouthguard is a bad idea. A mouthguard is a piece of plastic that protects your upper row of teeth. A mouthguard may be purchased over the counter or you can have one custom-made by your dentist.
American football is full of exciting competition, but do we realize the danger! Helmet safety in football remains an immense problem as the sport accounts for the highest incidence of concussions. Since leather football helmets, the technology for safer helmets has improved drastically and continue to improve. The development of newly designed helmets and technology has lowered the risk of head injuries for players. Furthermore, improvements in helmet testing methods have led to better understanding head injuries and the protectiveness of the helmet. In respect, football helmet safety still remains a challenge, such as a necessity of a proper categorization system to rank helmets and regulations to improve helmet safety. Regardless, standards and regulations attempt to address helmet safety through government intervention and a proper measuring system for football helmets. Despite the cultural perception of football, measures are taken to ensure safety, such as the reforms and education with regards to playing safer football. I intend to address the technological advances and regulation of football towards the discussion of helmet safety. Therefore the aggresivity in football’s culture should embrace stronger helmet standards and regulation that are promoted through improved testing methods and innovations because of the need to prevent further dangerous head injuries, especially concussions.
While the use of helmets does aid in protecting players from brain trauma, they also increase the risky behavior of players; this is called risk compensation. Risk compensation is the adjustment of individual behavior, responding to the perceived changes in risk (TheFreeDictionary.com). Most people that wear helmets have a pre-conceived idea that, because they have a helmet on, they can possess more daring behaviors and be fine. The helmet is basically thought of as a tool to hit harder, or improve performance in today’s culture. Adventure writer and pilot, Lane Wallace (2011) accurately understands the dangers of helmets being used incorrectly, and how they are used as weapons instead of safety. Wallace also theorizes like the NFL, a change in football culture and of viewpoints towards helmets would vastly reduce trauma to the
By improving helmets, it helps the player’s succeed more in the game because they no longer have to worry about the risk of a concussion. According to the website, “Making Football Helmets Safer to Prevent Concussions” by Mike Fricano, “Major impact-absorbing element of the helmet is a foamed polymer liner, commonly made of expanded polystyrene. They absorb energy which is omnidirectional.” This shows that the protective foam inside the helmet is involving all directions to protect all sides of the head. UCLA professor, Vijay Gupta creates a polymer that can make less of hard helmet hits on the field. He says, “If we cut down the level of force with my material, that’s going to help concussion reduction.” This shows that by adding new material we can improve the helmets