Concussions In Sports

Did you know that 99% of the dead NFL players had signs of Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) when scientist looked through their brain (Ventras)? Most people wouldn’t know this fact, but scientist do and have known this since 2002. Even though they are making improvements, there is still an alarming rate of concussions happening. This report will discuss who is affected, how it can be prevented, how it is affecting sports today.

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

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.

On fall Friday nights everywhere, high schools are buzzing for one thing: football. The players have practiced all week and are excited to get on the field. Students, parents, and fans alike are all counting down the minutes until kickoff. However, in one play all that excitement can be taken away. One helmet-to-helmet hit is sometimes all it takes for a player to sustain a concussion. Concussions happen frequently in football. Many people do not realize the risks associated with this type of injury. High school coaches need to be better trained on how to recognize potential concussions, athletes need to be better educated on concussions, and stricter concussion

Many private companies and researchers have taken the issue of concussions head on. Research has drastically increased throughout the 21st century. In the words of Mark Lovell PhD. founding director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program, “90% of what we know about concussions we’ve learned in the past five years.” These private researchers have taken different approaches to solving the issue but they are all working to achieve one goal: the reduction of concussions and the prevention of their long-term effects.

NHL players suffer concussions at a very high rate. In 1997, the number of concussions among NHL players suffered during games was reported at 559. This does not include incidences where the player didn’t inform the team physician of symptoms that he was having, which would have made this number a lot higher. Players actually lost consciousness in 18% of these cases. Fortunately, there has been a significant improvement in these numbers over the last several years. The rates that these injuries are occurring have

Cerebral concussions have become a serious and important topic for athletic trainers and other health-care professionals’ .Athletics has become very popular and diverse in our society. With athletics, come many serious injuries including cerebral concussions. A cerebral concussion is defined as a transient neurological dysfunction of the brain resulting from a biomechanical force.1 A concussion is a subset of a mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) which is generally self-limited and at the less-severe end of the brain injury spectrum.2Sports-related concussions are occur frequently in contact and collision sports at all levels of play across a wide age range. Cerebral Concussions were once thought to be a nuisance injury, but it is now

What do we really know about concussions? Let's think about this, concussions are caused when there is either an acceleration that transpires when the head is at rest and jerked into motion or deceleration when the head in motion but stop abruptly. Examples of this is a severe blow to the head and the result of that sudden movement causing the brain to become short- circuit which result in a traumatic brain injury (Drysdale,2013). This affects players in physical sports like football, hockey or boxing. In this paper I will show that brain injuries play a role in NFL player and our youth which are some of the main causes of delayed cognitive and mental issues that affect them throughout their lifetime even though they no longer play the

The sale of professional football jerseys, t-shirts, hats and other clothes are making teams very rich. On any given Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday night, it is not hard to find groups of people that have gathered to enjoy the game of professional American football. All of this is taking place in a time where concussion or head injuries have begun to gain attention at every level of the game. As more and more games are being played, we are beginning to see more and more concussion injuries on the playing field. While we think that this would scare people, the popularity of the game continues to be at great levels.

The concussion rates among high school, collegiate, and professional athletes is increasing at an alarming rate. The United States alone reports 1.6 to 3.8 million cases of sport-related concussions per year2-4, 9, 12. The 1.6 to 3.8 million does not account for the large number of concussions that remain unreported by athletes2-4, 9, 12. According to McCrory et al., a concussion is defined as a complex pathophysiological process that disturbs the brain, which is prompted by traumatic biomechanical forces 10. Sports- related concussions are one of the most complex injuries, which makes them difficult to assess. The cerebral functional deficits that occur in one athlete may be completely the opposite from another athlete3-4. Studies

Concussions in sports have always been the main injury for athletes, and sometimes those concussions are career ending. For years concussions were known as getting your bell rung and not much was thought about the damage that a direct head injury could have on the athlete. In the past several years, doctors and athletic trainers have come to better understand concussions and how easily they occur, even though they still do not know everything. A concussion is defined as a type of traumatic brain injury caused by a blow to the head or body, a fall, or another injury that jars or shakes the brain inside the skull. The top sports where concussions occur are men and women’s soccer, lacrosse, men’s wrestling, women’s basketball, football, and men’s ice hockey. Although football is the leading cause of concussion in children and adult athletes with 76.8 percent of athletes sustaining a concussion at some point in their career, ice hockey falls into second with 54 percent of athletes experiencing a concussion. There are many reasons why athletes who participate in ice hockey incur concussions, especially at young ages. Several factors include deliberate head shots, kids hitting their heads off the ice when they fall, getting punched or slashed in the head, and the most common reason is the improper use of mouth guards and helmets. If helmets and mouth guards are properly fitted and used, players follow league rules and regulations fully, and attend concussion prevention classes

Sports are played all over the world. From kids as young as 3 years old just learning the basics of a sport, to the well rounded college and professional athletes, sports are played almost everywhere in the world. With sports, though, come the risk of concussions. What is a concussion?  “A concussion is a traumatic injury to the brain that temporarily disrupts its normal function.” (Brzycki). As simple as that may sound, concussions are very serious. Concussions can cause many serious and severe short and long term issues. In the past few years, there has been a growing concern about sports related concussions. There has also been a growing concern about coaches, trainers, and athletes awareness about concussions and the serious consequences that they may bring. That may leave some to wonder if their son or daughter's coaches are up to date with current concussion education and awareness.

The epidemic of concussions I football have only started to become worse when finally, technology is advanced enough to correlate the relationship between the two. It has even become more apparent that not only the effects it has on someone short term, but the long-term effects are significantly worse. In some cases, concussions not have only effected the player but the people around them as well. What needs to be addressed is, how can concussions caused by football be limited, or what can be done medically to reduce the side effects, both short and long term.

Concussions have increasingly taken over the great game of football. According to Seifert, “Diagnosed concussions have increased by 32 percent since last season.” With the recent increase in concussions the everlasting problem of head injuries is now being investigated in full gear. The National Football League’s main focus today is trying to find ways to better protect players head and neck area. Over time concussions have impacted the National Football League drastically as new helmets are being used, new rules are being put in place, and there are concerns about the future of football.

In the span of my eighteen, almost nineteen, years on this Earth, I have sustained three concussions. With those three concussions came immense amounts of pain, struggle, and tears. Not until now have concussions been looked at as something that could be detrimental to human health. Think about it. A blow to the head that takes weeks, maybe even months to fully heal, sometimes requiring therapy to retrain the brain how to perform simple motor functions. These injuries are not to be taken lightly. Concussions are widely seen in the sports world. Intense competition and the thirst for winning has made sports the most dangerous they have ever been. Millions of concussions occur each year, but for some reason, most people don’t think that these injuries are that big of deal.