Concussion Impact On Concussions

Head injuries, including concussions, particularly in the game of American football, have become a subject of deep concern, much study and even Congressional hearings in the United States.

Safety and equipment have come a long way in football in order to prevent brain injuries. A very important piece of equipment used to prevent brain trauma is the helmet. The helmet has evolved a lot over the years, even more in the past decade. The Helmets main purpose use to be just to stop skull fractures, then they added the facemask to prevent facial injuries. Concussions are more of a recent concern (Hand 1). Overconfidence in the helmets' protective power prompts many NFL athletes to deliver and accept hits that would have killed players of previous generations. Now the helmet is being revolutionized. Helmets aren't only being created to stop skull and face fractures but they are being created to help prevent brain damage such as concussions now. Helmets have gone through testing to see how to design a better preventative helmet. These newer helmets are being designed to reduce the amount of force that is being applied to the head by a hit that is received (Vandantam 2). Virginia Tech football has been monitoring helmet collisions since 2003, courtesy of Dr. Gunnar Brolinson. Dr. Gunnar Brolinson has outfitted the teams helmets with six sensors and a small antenna that records and transmits data to a computer on the sideline. This information collected is crucial because it will help find better ways to design a helmet that will prevent concussions(Goldman 1). Equipment isn't the only important part of football that can help prevent concussions.

The issue of multiple concussions is finally becoming recognized by major sports. The awareness has led to a variety of interventions to help protect athletes. There have been two recent interventions concerning football helmets. First off, Riddell, a company that produces football helmets, has released a new helmet that is supposed to best prevent concussions. This helmet is known as the Revolution Speed. Using advanced technology, the Speed helmets were designed around the head 's center of gravity and include an uneven outer shell to help absorb a hit. The inside of the

Concussions are and will continue to be an ongoing issue in almost all sports today. This is especially true in the case of football and the NFL. Concussions are considered the most common and least devastating form of traumatic brain injury someone can receive. Although concussions are considered the least serious type of brain injury they can still lead to and cause many irreversible brain diseases and in some cases people have even lost their lives because of concussions. One of these diseases is called chronic traumatic encephalopathy or better known as CTE. There have been many recent medical developments that have allowed us to learn more about the brain and things that affect it. This increased knowledge has caused unrest

The NFL as you probably already know, stands for the National Football League. It is the elite league for the best players and best athletes in the world. These players are in tip top shape and are extremely strong. Now the big question is this. What is one of, if not the biggest problem in the NFL? Concussions. Nate Jackson, a former NFL player and writer says this, “Why is it that men who were the strongest and fittest people alive when they were young degenerate so quickly? That’s the million-dollar question.” With all of the protective equipment and top-of-the-line helmets, you would think that the players are safe from these types of injuries. But, there is a remaining problem of concussions that is still very

In 2007, the NFL finally started to take steps to slow down the rate of concussions in football (Lauren Ezell). Although concussions still occur today, there are specific protocols that were inserted to protect players’ health. This topic is so important to me because I am a big fan of the sport, and I would hate to see my favorite players end their career with disabling conditions. I hope to the see the NFL continually trying to find ways to limit concussions. I believe that one day football can be played without the risk of living the rest of your life with a critical

The sports communities that require concussion education include the players themselves; their parents, the coaches, trainers, therapists, and referees; sports organizations/leagues; the media; teachers; and health care professionals. Several gains in recognition and management that impact upon concussion prevention can only be made through widespread of knowledge about concussions. Concussions are a serious issue in many professional sports. Concussions affect multiple sports in many ways. Many sports today are affected by the medical condition of concussions. Today, multiple leagues and professionals are learning how to prepare and prevent these career shattering injuries. With hundreds of medical advancements and a better understanding of the knowledge that the science has, we are assisting athletes to recover from these injuries. In order to understand concussions that lead the role on the games, one must look at the symptoms, injuries, and side-effects of this

It happens so quickly that you can’t even comprehend it, it’s a quick flash and then it’s like your whole world got turned upside down. Some people call it “seeing stars” or “blacking out.” A temporary blow to the head that causes unconsciousness is called a concussion, and they are becoming a serious issue in sports. The term “Concussion” was used pretty loosely back in the 1950’s. This became a serious issue around the early 1990’s and is now one of the most serious issues in today 's sports. Some myths have been brought up about concussions and many researchers decided to test them out and see if they are fact or fiction. Karen Schrock discovered six things about concussions that are true and many people don’t know them. In my own opinion, three out of the six are kind of common sense, but the other three are more unknown true facts about concussions.

In 1952, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study stating that a player should not continue playing professional football after suffering three concussions. But the NFL’s Public Relations (PR) department took this information for granted and swept it under the rug. As the players continued to become bigger, faster, and stronger, the number of concussions began to increase over time. In 1994, then-NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue concluded there were unanswered questions about concussions in football and organized a commission on mild traumatic brain injury to address those questions. “The panel consisted of NFL team medical personnel as well as outside professionals including a biomedical engineer, and doctors with specialties in neurology, neurosurgery, neuropsychology, and epidemiology” (Fainaru-Wada & Fainaru, 2013, p. 101). The committee recommended independent scientific research rather than having NFL team medical practitioners involved, to foster better understanding of the causes, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of concussions. “The NFL Public Relations department ignored the recommendation for independent research and instead used the existing commission as the starting point of its committee dedicated to studying concussions” (Oates & Furness, 2014,

In September, all around the country, football fans are preparing for the tailgating, football parties and eating, but none are looking forward to head injuries. As time goes on fans, officials, and players are becoming aware of the elevated numbers of head injuries that happen every day in the NFL. Football has been America’s sport for almost 100 years, but the overall statistics and continuous arguments involving concussion rates do not seem to agree. An increasing number of NFL players have shown signs of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), indicating that the NFL’s inconsistency in enforcing regulations to prevent concussions is resulting in a significant risk to players’ long term physical and psychological health issues.

According to the Concussion Foundation a concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury caused by a bump, blow or jolt to the head. The impact causes the brain to move back and forth inside a person’s skull, which stretches and damages brain cells. As a result, the brain becomes susceptible to more injuries until it fully recovers. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that about 3.8 million concussions occur in the United States (U.S.) annually through sports (“What is a Concussion”). Between 2000 and 2004, concussions were the fifth most frequent injury in the National Football League (NFL) (Viano, 2007). However, only five-10% are recognized and eventually diagnosed (“What is a Concussion”). The highest level of football in the U.S. consists of professionals that play for one of the 32 teams that make up the NFL (Yengo-Kahn, 2015). Although football is a sport that has been built on “toughness” it’s become apparent in the last two decades that many of the retired players had debilitating long term health issues, many of which have been related to repeated concussions (Relch, 2013). There have been many lawsuits filed by retired players and their families against the NFL claiming, “head injuries” have impacted their long-term health (Relch, 2013). It has been concluded that most “head injuries” experienced are in fact concussions. Science has linked concussions to long-term cognitive impairment and other health problems. The NFL must do more to protect its players from problems stemming from concussions. One factor, that has not been significantly studied is if a player’s position increases the likelihood of a concussion(s) (Relch, 2013). The purpose of this paper is to take fully reported data and analyze concussion incidence rates for several positions whom experience the highest rates of concussions. This will be done by taking player’s positions and analyzing the occurrence of concussions along with the factors that influence them. A concussion changes the way a person’s brain normally works. A player can experience several long-term consequences from just one concussion. So, multiple concussions are even more worrisome to one’s physical and mental health. For the present

Over the past couple of years, there has been a growing concern for NFL player’s safety and the amount of concussions occurring over the past years. A concussion is a type of mild traumatic brain injury that may be caused by either a fall; a direct blow to the head, face, or neck; or a blow elsewhere on the body that transmits force to the head (JAAPA). There has been a high attention directed towards concussions in many sports, but mainly football. The purpose of the research I will be conducting is to educate the players, coaches, and future players of the NFL on ways to prevent concussions. Several topics I will touch upon my research topic are how concussions associate with musculoskeletal injuries, how long a player should be sidelined before returning to play, the amount of research that has been done to prevent concussions, how teammates can have an effect on whether a player continues playing through a concussion or if they take the safe route, how coaches who are educated annually on concussions can decrease how bad a concussion is and ways coaches have been educated in the past and how effective that method was. I will specifically be paying attention to what is known and what other ways can the members of the NFL be educated on concussions. I want to know what they know and what steps are they taking towards preventing concussions. I also want to know what damage does it cause to the brain over time.

First, I am going to talk about the science behind concussions, CTE, and why it is such an issue for a football player. Concussions are very damaging to the brain and experiencing a lot of them can lead to CTE. I will also discuss people that influenced the understanding of concussions and CTE. In 2002, a neurologist named Dr. Bennet Omalu tried to tell the NFL about the brain damage he found while doing a former NFL player’s autopsy, but the NFL did not really listen. In 2009, another researcher by the name of Dr. Ann Mckee tried to get the NFL’s attention about her concerns about football players and concussions as well. The NFL once again ignored these assumptions. However, the NFL did listen to Dr. Elliot Pellman, who told the league as early as 1994, that concussions were not a big problem and just part of the game. I will discuss how NFL players were treated when they got their “bell rung” during a big game; and what kind of medical treatment they

The number of concussions in professional and amateur football has been rising and has sparked much controversy in recent years. These concussions are most likely linked with disease and even the deaths of some pro and semi-pro football players. New research is attempting to solve the problem but the issue is still prevalent in football today.

Football can be a very dangerous sport. And although those who play the game believe that they are being protected by the helmets that they wear, the truth is that this may not be the case. In a recent study released by the American Academy of Neurology it has been found that “protection against concussion and complications of brain injury is especially important for young players, including elementary and middle school, high school and college athletes, whose still-developing brains are more susceptible to the lasting effects of trauma”(Science Daily, 2014). The study also found that standard football helmets worn by the majority of players on the field today, only reduce the risk of traumatic brain injury by 20 percent compared to not wearing a helmet at all (Science Daily, 2014).