A concussion is a common injury among athletes around the world. Concussions are serious injuries that should be treated with precaution and care. “A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury that can cause long-term brain damage and diminish normal functioning” (Boriboon). Concussions occur primarily in sports with physical contact. Collisions occur often and it doesn’t always have to be with another player. According to the researcher Kia Boriboon, “A concussion occurs when the brain repeatedly collides with the skull, most often due to a blow to the head.” Even though we have a plan for dealing with concussions, it’s obviously not doing as well of a job as we expected. Statistics show that there are “estimates of 1.6 to 3.8 million sport-related concussions occurring in the United States each year” (Rigby). Without adding other countries into the mix, that is still a staggering number and it includes children. Children are less developed than adults, both physically and mentally. That may be the reason why children concuss more easily than adults (Tator).
You can conclude that most sports have physical contact with the head. In soccer, heading the ball out of the air creates contact. In sports like hockey and football, when there is a collision, the players might hit head-to-head or collide with other objects. “Football is the most common sport with concussion risk for males (75% chance for concussion)” (Boriboon) and “soccer is the most common sport with concussion risk for females (50% chance for concussion)” (Boriboon). Although concussions mainly occur in physical sports, they can occur anywhere. In tennis, a player may be struck in the back of the head with a broken racket. In baseball, you could collide with anot...
... middle of paper ...
...s With Coaches Over Concussion Treatment; Athletic trainers who butt heads with coaches over concussion treatment take career hits." The Chronicle of Higher Education 60.01 (2013). Academic OneFile. Web. 5 Nov. 2013.
Bib Card F:
Rigby, Justin, Luzita Vela, and Jeff Housman. "Understanding athletic trainers' beliefs toward a multifacted sport-related concussion approach: application of the theory of planned behavior." Journal of Athletic Training 48.5 (2013): 636+. Academic OneFile. Web. 7 Nov. 2013.
Bib Card G:
"Concussion risk for high school football players unaffected by helmet age or brand." PT in Motion Oct. 2013: 10. Academic OneFile. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
Bib Card H:
Brown, Maury. "New Mandatory Batting Helmet to Reduce Risk of Concussions Begins Use in MLB." The Biz of Baseball 21 Feb. 2013. General Reference Center GOLD. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
Bib Card I:
“Concussion rates for children under the age of 19 who play football have doubled in the last decade, even though the overall sports participation has declined” (Youth Football Concussion Statistics). Football is extremely popular in American culture. Children all across the world love watching and playing the sport. However, many studies have shown numerous possible long term effects of starting the beloved sport when young. Undeveloped brains have a harder time recovering from bumps and blows that occur during playing time. After examining the long term effects of children playing football, it is clear that the tradition of tackle football in youth should be held off until the brain is more fully developed,
Concussions and the effect they have on people ranging from the young to the old has become a very popular discussion in recent years. Generally people watch sports for entertainment and then there are those who engage in high impact sports from a very young age on. The people at home know how fun playing in a sport is, however they may not know the brutal consequences for some participating in that sport. Injuries to the brain are a main concern among those in the world of high impact sports. Football, soccer, wrestling, lacrosse, and rugby are among sports that athletes receive injuries in. The injuries vary from sprains, to fractures, to torn MCL or ACL, and bruised organs. Concussions are a severe type of injury endured by athletes in the sports world and this life changing injury is one that people are becoming more aware of.
Through sports or through everyday life, concussions tend to happen. An estimated 300 000 sport-related traumatic brain injuries, predominantly concussions, occur annually in the United States. Sports are second only to motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of traumatic brain injury among people aged 15 to 24 years. (U.S National Library of Medicine). Coaches and parents often do not go through the right procedures or protocols when dealing with a teenager who has received a blow to the head. The usual questions that are asked when there is a head injury are, “what day is it, what’s the score, and how many fingers am I holding up?” Now these are not poor questions, but these questions alone cannot determine if a person has suffered a concussion. The correct method, which they are now implementing in most professional sports leagues, is for anyone with a head injury to take a legitimate concussion test performed by the team doctor. (WebbMD) At present the symptoms can be hit or miss. After receiving a concussion, research shows that an “estimated 80 to 90% of concussions heal spontaneously in the first 7 to 10 days”. (Barton Straus) But, it is important to remember not to return until all symptoms are
From the year 2001 to 1005 children aged 5-18 accounted for 2.4 million emergency room visits due to sports related injuries. Of these visits around 6 percent involved a concussion(The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Every athlete that receives a concussion does not necessarily go to the emergency room. Athletic trainers, when available and certified, can oversee the recovery of an athlete without a trip to the emergency room. Some concussions go untreated altogether. While the percentage may seem low, looki...
Did you know, that someone suffers from a brain injury every 21 seconds (Haas)? Children get concussions all the time, and most of the time they go unnoticed. The majority of concussions happen when one is playing a sport such as football, hockey, or lacrosse. Many famous athletes have had their careers, even their lives cut short due to concussions. Brain damage and death can result from serial concussions (Schafer). When one suffers from a concussion, one’s brain needs time to recover physically and mentally. Between 2002 and 2006, statistics showed that 52,000 people died from concussions and about 275,000 were hospitalized (Fundukian). Everyone’s recovery process is different (“Injury and Pain Care”). Although concussions seem minor, they are very serious brain injuries that may result in severe damage to one’s brain.
Football is America’s favorite sport. It is a fast-paced, hard-hitting game. Every week thousands of men and boys all across the country take part in football and every week these men and boys receive violent hits during the game. Frequently, as a result of these violent hits, the player receives a concussion. However, the long-term effects of concussions on players are not fully understood. New research shows that even a slight concussion in a football game can have lasting effects on a player. As a result of this research, children under the age of fourteen should not play tackle football.
The number of children below the age of 19 are treated in American emergency rooms for concussions and other traumatic brain injuries increased from 150,000 in 2001 to 250,000 in 2009. That’s not cumulative, that is actually per year. Everyone should know how and when to treat a concussion, no matter if it is for sports or in general. Concussions can come from anything. Concussions can be an easily preventable injury, however due to poor equipment, a competitive mindset, unrecognizable symptoms, and untrained sports physicians, they are becoming quite common and can lead to potentially fatal brain disorders.
Brady, Erik. “Changing the Game on Youth Concussions.” USA Today 26 May 2011, Virginia ed.: 1C. Print.
Whether you lose consciousness or not, when you are hit and impacted in the head during a sport, you could suffer from a concussion. Many football players and hockey players get hit extremely hard in the head during their games, the impact can cause brain damage, stunt essential growth, and have long term effects. Athletes who have suffered from a concussion should get cleared by a medical professional before heading back to the field or rink. Although athletes want to strive to achieve a scholarship and get back on the field, this could be detrimental to their overall health, presently and in the future.
Awareness about the severity of concussions, particularly on young brains, has increased, but researchers are still seeing a rise in high school concussions. According to the National Academy of Sciences, out of 10,000 high school football games and practices there are approximately eleven concussions reported; two times more than college football. But researchers strongly believe the number for high school football concussions would be significantly higher if there were more reported concussions and less unreported. Safety guidelines for concussions in the NFL and NCAA have increased, but there is still an insufficient amount of safety in high school sports. Many high schools in the United States should have stricter guidelines to better
It is a very physical game where there is a lot of violence in grabbing the ball and scoring. There is a lot of pushing and shoving, head butts and one on one collision to put the opponent down. The result of all the physicality in the game is the numerous injuries and concussions the players suffer. Although a player suffers a lot of injuries like broken bones, torn ligaments and bloody ears and nose, the worst of the injuries is the concussion due to repeated blows to the head and the body. The Consensus Statement of the Third International Congress on Concussion in Sport in November 2008 defined concussion as a “complex pathophysiologic process affecting the brain, induced by traumatic biochemical forces.”(Edwards and Bodle 128). Concussions not only happen when there is a blunt force trauma to the head, but also when other parts of the body are under severe stress, and this is transmitted to the brain. Concussions have three reaction stages- short term, mid-term and long term. Depending on the person, each stage can be fatal. Some may show brain damage immediately after a concussion while in some players it may take a few years for the symptoms to show. One important reason as to why sports related concussions are quite dangerous for the players is that they are seldom being reported. A lot of players brush it away as part of the game or
Confusion on the definition of a concussion can affect athletes, coaches and trainers when it comes to diagnosing a concussion. The knowledge to know the signs and symptoms of a concussion can reduce the short, medium, and long-term consequences of them. Signs of a concussion could be an inability to focus, vomiting, nausea, dizziness, and slurred speech. Concussions have been around for many years. More and more research is being conduction on concussions as the years pass for a better understanding. As a better understanding of concussion is being researched, sports teams should force and make better rules when it comes to hitting players. Athletes that has had a concussion can suffer from short-term symptoms like verbal delay or long-term symptoms like a disability. Helmets are being improved constantly, but the reduction of concussions is not decreasing. Reduction of concussion starts with the player reporting his injury. After reporting the injury, the proper steps can be taken to get rid of symptoms and prevent the likeliness of the injury from happening again. To prevent to the likeliness of the injury to reoccur the athlete must take time away from the sport and spend a certain amount of time recovery. Before returning back to play, the athlete must be check for readiness. Readiness can be checked by testing the athlete’s behavior and abilities. Sports come with pros and cons. The pros can be working with others to complete the same objective while having fun. The con can be simply suffering from a concussion. So an athlete has to be willing and well educated on the sport he or she wants to play before committing to a certain
As a result of many deaths of professional athletes through suicide as well as general concern for health, concussion awareness and testing is as high as it’s ever been. Precautions and tests are currently being set up in almost sports in the attempt to diminish the long term effects. Although the symptoms and exact recovery time are still unknown, doctors and researchers are sure that concussions and other forms of head impacts can have long term effects that can present serious issues throughout the rest of these individual’s lives. The risk of potential damage to the brain increases as the number of concussions increase. In the athletics, players deliver and absorb many hits to the head which a primary reason why rules and regulations at a levels of football, for example, are changing to try and decrease the number of concussions received by players and to make the game safer to those who play it. However these head injuries are not just restricted to athletics, roughly three million Americans have brain injuries every year, half of which are considered serious (Dekosky 2010). Also, many of our nation’s brave men and women suffer traumatic head injuries that take months, even years to fully recover from. Though the exact number of concussions in soldiers can be completely accurate, many army officials believe it to be around eighteen percent (Charles 2008).
Doctors and researchers are progressing greatly on prevention of concussions. One way that is being pushed in bettering equipment to prevent concussions. Another way is educating young athletes on symptoms of concussions, and effects so they know the importance of treating them correctly. Concussions are part of sports, so instead of working to eliminate them fully, right now researchers are focusing on prevention and treatment. According to information found on the website Forbes.com “ While Alberts says the risk of brain injury is naturally higher among football players because of their profession, what medical experts don’t know are the effects of variables such as repeated blows, genetics and how providing more recovery time can help reduce potential damage (David Lariviere)”. This article shows that there are several factors after concussions that are crucial toward prevention. Understanding the type of concussion and the recovery time is also very important. Concussions can be prevented, but there are certain steps and variables that are important towards
The impact that concussions have on a person can include those that are both short and long term and involve negative impacts on the emotional, mental and physical areas of a person's life. In a article from the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, they describe the dangers of concussions and how fatal they can become if they go untreated. “In the United States, approximately 1.7 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) annually; these injuries account for 1.365 million emergency room visits and 275,000 hospitalizations each year.1 The majority of these TBIs are minor” (Long Term Consequences: Effects on Normal Development Profile after Concussion, 1). When untreated a concussion can result in Fatigue, disordered sleep, aggression, anxiety, depression, headaches, dizziness, personality changes and apathy. These symptoms will last at least 3 months and often will last longer. These symptoms will have a negative impact on children and how they go about living their lives, and will likely impact their lives in the long run. As presented concussions can have a negative impact on the future lives on many athletes far beyond their lives on the playing