Christian Wolanin Case Study

Concussions can truly mess with an athlete’s brain and can give him or her lifelong troubles.

As the Friday night lights shine down onto the field, the running back from Washington High School takes a hard hit to the head. He lies on the field motionless as trainers rush over to him. He is diagnosed as having a severe concussions. While there are immediate dangers of having such a concussion, the later effects of such an injury and this student's life in the future are unknown, and potentially life threatening. Studies have extensively concluded that CTE is an undeniable danger in the NFL, as well as in high school students. In order to continue the protection of our athletes and students, the NFL and other leagues will be required to further research of CTE and its effects, as well as continue the development of advanced protective

In all cases, an injury that is determined long-term can very easily negatively impact a player’s career. For example, “head and neck injuries, or concussions, are the most excruciating injuries and tend to last the longest” (nationalpost.com, 2014). The long term effects can last for a long time, causing careers and playing time for players to be cut shorter than wanted, much to the dismay of the players. In the 2010-2011 NHL season, Pittsburgh Penguins’ captain, Sidney Crosby, arguably the best player in today’s game of hockey, missed 320 days also entering into the 2011-2012 season, due to a concussion instilled by Washington Capitals forward, Dave Steckel at the 2011 Winter Classic (Podnieks, 2011). It is also interesting to note that in the same season as his concussion and prior to his injury, Crosby had also set an NHL record for the 11th longest point streak in NHL history, extending up to a 25-game point streak, earning 50 points in that span—26 goals and 24 assists, and was on pace for around 120+ points by the end of the season, until his concussion. Since then, his pace of number of points in a single season had not come close to prior to the period of time before he got injured (Crechiolo, 2011). In other words, a player’s athletic career, even one as profound and idolised as Sidney Crosby’s, can be easily affected by the possibilities of an injury because it shows that it can very quickly jeopardize or decrease the level of play one has. In the cases of prolific and top-tier players like Crosby, or anyone involved in any injury from any sport, it is a long-term impact that threatens and jeopardizes the possibility of a long and prosperous career, and the only way to prevent ongoing tragedies and misconduct within the league is to enforce absolute

every athlete suffers from a form of a concussion at least once in their lives, but the surprising

Concussions are a rising issue in the daily life of many athletes in the sports of hockey, soccer, football, and skateboarding. Every 21 seconds, someone in this country encounters a brain injury. Concussions are brain injuries caused by jolts or hard hits around the head. When the tissue of the brain slams against the strong, thick skull in your head, a concussion is very common. This leads to either swelling of the brain, “torn blood vessels, or injury to the nerves.” (Haas) Eventually, the result will be immediate, delayed, or even permanent loss of your own brain. In the next four paragraphs, I will describe to you how a concussion is important to you and others, what the world can do to stop this issue, and what you can do to prevent

We have all heard of the term “sports injury”. Usually an accident that occurs when engaged in a sport, the ideal can apply from something as frustrating as a rolled ankle to the more debilitating shock of a broken arm. Yet the fact remains that these physical ailments will heal, and properly, if they are treated properly. But what about concussions? What are the long term effects? In her brief editorial in TIME magazine, Alexandra Sifferlin explores the effects of concussions and specifically how they affect children if they aren't disclosed.

Concussions have become a major controversy in the United States. Because of uninformed students and negligent coaches, many student athletes are experiencing the severe complications that accompany the injury. High school athletes seem to be the most affected and for this reason are more vulnerable than other students to experience concussions. Not properly managing concussions in time could have significant and problematic injuries that could potentially effect the victims overall ability to live a healthy life. For this reason, athletes should have to stay out of any physical activity for the necessary time to allow their brain to properly heal.

If a student player were to be impacted on the field and have a concussion, they should sit out for a longer period of time to fully recover. This because if a student were to have a head injury, somewhat recover, and then get back on the field, they would have higher risks of permanent brain damage which can effect their daily activities. Findings show that a high school student are 3 times more likely to experience a second concussion if they have already had a concussion during that season. They also show that if they fail at properly healing their concussion, they might have long-term consequences and could effect jobs further in life.

There are a countless number of students in high school and college throughout all of the U.S. that participate in sports and physical activities. High school sports are a fun and enjoyable way for young adults to compete and play in an organized setting. Many of these sports involve a copious amount of risk for injury. There are preventative measures to a certain extent in most sports to limit the risk of injury as much as possible. There are an umpteen number of injuries that one can sustain during the participation of sports. One of these injuries that should be put on the radar is the concussion. Concussions and serious brain injuries

In the sports world today, there are many different injuries that athletes experience and one of the most devastating injury is a concussion. Concussions can happen to anyone, in any sport, but we tend to see most concussions in contact sports (Świerzewski 1). While having an informal conversation with my dad about football, he told me it was common for athletes to receive a head injury in a game and continue to play as if nothing was wrong. While watching SportsCenter, I found that some of the greatest retired athletes don’t remember the best moments of their careers due to the lack of treatment. The worst aspect of concussions is that the symptoms can be delayed; in some cases, it’s only a headache so athletes don’t seek medical treatment. Multiple concussions over time can lead to life-threatening complications due to the damage they cause to the brain. Concussions can happen to anybody at anytime, but there is more to concussions than meets the eye.

Concussions happen throughout every sport and every level. Elise Legult, Programme Specialist (education finance) at UNESCO Institute for Statistics, stated, “Individuals age 19 and under sustaining concussion climbed from 153,375 to 248,414. It rose 65% from 2001-2009” (Legault, et al. 1) This statistic shows that although there are some ways of preventing concussions, it does not mean concussions are completely prevented. Zackery is a high school football player, he was hit hard on a play and he sustained a concussion. Coach then puts Zackery back in the game, which made his concussion worse; the continuous hit after he sustained a concussion made the situation life and death for Zack. With Lystedt family, Washington state passed a bill called The Zackery Lystedt Law. The law prohibits players from participating in a game if they are suspected, or actually sustaining a concussion during a game(Lucke 2). Zackery Lystedt Law focuses around three central provisions: Education of athletes, parents, and coaches; requirement of immediate removal of the player, and medical clearance in order to return (Harvey 4)

The sport of hockey is an intense test of power and will, and as a result of the injuries in sport are common realities that players and coaches are faced with. Among these injuries are concussions, arguably the worst injury of all. A significant blow to the head that causes the brain to shake in the skull and sometime even swell causes a concussion. These serious and sometimes life threatening injuries have always been a part of hockey, and up until a few years ago, little was being done to combat the cause. Although great strides have been made to help athletes recover from a concussion, the question arises, why are hockey players so susceptible to these terrible head injuries in the first place?

Imagine a car travelling down the road going 25 miles an hour. Imagine that car striking another car moving at a similar speed. Now, replace those cars with two boys travelling at the same speed. The event described is a typical hockey hit. If carried out the correct way, it will simply displace one player from the puck and both players will likely skate away, however, if executed incorrectly, the results can be devastating. A collision such as the one described happens all too often in hockey. Be it because of ignorance by the coaches, player and league, or by the lack of knowledge on the topic, the problem is not subsiding. The issue of concussions is a growing problem reaching epidemic proportions. People always complain about officiating.

Today’s rates, concussions are occurring more and continuing to grow in young athletes. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports show that the amount of reported concussions have doubled in the last 10 years. The American of Pediatrics have reported that “emergency room visits for concussions in children ages 8 to 13 years old have doubled and concussions have risen 200% among teens ages 14 to 19 in the last decade.” Football has the highest rates of concussions out of all the sports in young athletes, which is 47% out of all reported sport concussions, with 33% of concussions occurring during practice. The sports with descending concussion rates include: ice hockey, girls’ soccer, both boys and girls lacrosse, and boy soccer. 1 in 5 high school athletes will sustain from a sports related concussion during the season. 33% of high school athletes report two or more concussions within the same year. Just from a first hit, this can result in permanent damage and have long term effects, but the second or third hit is what really needs to be watched. Multiple concussions are shown to increase permanent neurologic damage by

A recent study of college football players has shown that those who participate in high contact sports and have had a concussion before have a 300% higher chance of having another one in comparison to athletes that have never had a concussion before (Jolicoeur et al, 2007). The NFL and NCAA have enacted several rule changes in order to minimize the occurrence of concussions. These new rules, like many before them, have come under the scrutiny of the very athletes that they were meant to protect. The NHL and NHL Players Association in 1997 together created a program in order to get a better understanding of concussions and how to prevent them (Burke et al, 2011). According to Covassin (2008), athletes who have had more than one concussion take a longer time to recover with each concussion that they suffer from.