Concussions In Youth Sports

In recent years an abundance of brain injury research has provided evidence of the lifelong impairments affecting children who have sustained a sports related concussion. Although the information on and how to prevent sports related concussions have been distributed among both athletic coaches, faculty and parents alike, sports related concussions often go unreported. Lack of proper education has lead parents and coaches to believe sports related concussions as being “minor injuries” (Macdonald).

David Jennings is the corresponding author, and holds five degrees in the area of physical training. As such, he is the main author and approves all the methods and such used in the paper. He he works at Belmont University as an active physical therapist and athletic trainer teacher. Additionally, there is no clearly stated bias. The study was performed by the School of Physical Therapy of Belmont University. This is a neutral source, since they are not actively involved in any youth sports programs, and would not benefit form either a cover-up or exposure of concussion related complications. This is a strictly informational article, and does not attempt to advertise any specific product in line with the results. Since this is a peer reviewed journal article, there are a plethora of cited sources. This article uses footnotes, so every reference is cited by a number which correlates to a source in the works cited page. Overall there are 26 cited sources, and the majority have links to the original

Concussions are rapidly becoming more and more of a concern in sports today. This is especially true in the sport of football, youth, amateur, and professional. What is a concussion? How do they happen? A concussion is a traumatic brain injury that occurs when the head is impacted, hit, struck, or shaken. Inside the skull, this violent movement of the brain is very detrimental to the brain itself. When a concussion occurs the brain literally bounces or twists in the skull causing damage to the brain cells, which in turn cause chemical changes in the brain. These changes make the brain more sensitive to other injuries or stress. All athletes participating in contact sports are at risk

This experiment is a descriptive research study that was used to see the amount of knowledge and amount of education college coaches have been given on the topic of Concussions. To see if coaches know the signs and symptoms of a concussion, how to identify if an athlete has concussion symptoms and if the coaches know the recovery protocol for an athlete to return to play. For this experiment, 28,183 coaches of division l, ll, and lll, colleges all over the country were sent an email asking to participate in this study to see how much knowledge and education they have on concussions. This lead to some limitations because they can only do the study on the coaches that choose to participate. But of those 28183 asked, 1818 coaches responded

Knowing these policies and being up-to-date on the most current concussion recovery research is necessary for those involved in any way with youth sports. As coaches, parents, and players become aware of the research, it will be possible to determine the most effective way to help athletes understand the severity of concussions. Current post-concussion return-to-play policies for high school-aged youth do much to ensure that the youth has recovered enough to return to play, but stricter policies must be implemented. These changes should be made due to how easy it is to miss the symptoms of a concussion and the dangerous effects of returning too early, the long-term effects of concussions, and the unique differences among individual

Concussions, a type of traumatic brain injury, are a frequent concern for those playing sports, from children and teenagers to professional athletes. Repeated concussions are a known cause of various neurological disorders, most notably chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which in professional athletes has led to premature retirement, erratic behavior and even suicide. Over 1.6 million Americans have sustained concussion-related injuries. Because concussions cannot be seen on X-rays or CT scans, attempts to prevent concussions have been difficult.

Concussions are not always easy to define because they can vary in so many ways and because it is rare for any two concussions to be the exact same. Because of the inconsistency and irregularity, athletes are often allowed back into play before it is known if they have a concussion or how severe it is. In “Causes and Consequences of Sports Concussion,” Edwards and Bodle state, “The Consensus Statement of the Third International Congress on Concussion in Sport…defined concussion as a ‘complex pathophysiologic process affecting the brain, induced by traumatic biochemical forces’” (128). They also share that definitions of concussion differ between professional organizations, but share common characteristics: “trauma affecting the head or body resulting in transient neurologic deficits or symptoms” (Edwards and Bodle

When I was in high school people started to get more serious about concussions and education. I done remember the traumatic stories much, but I remember the testing and education about concussions in sports toward coaches, teachers, students, and parents. Although some of the stories are very serious and sad, I think they were very eye opening to people and easily got people’s attention. Professional sports had strict rule for injuries and included concussion guidelines along with the “when in doubt, sit them out” attitude. This led legislators, parents, and schools to have similar practices in high school sports. I think it all would have happened over time, but some of the chronic injuries motivated people to implement rules and strategies

Approximately 2 million high school athletes suffer from concussions per year. Of those injured, 500,000 result in doctor’s visits and 300,000 land athletes in the hospital. The biggest concerns with concussions are repeated blows and long-term injuries. SWATA reports that 96% of Americans feel that it is important for youth athletes to be seen by a healthcare professional before returning back to the game, and I am betting that you are one of the majority.

It is a problem when athletes and coaches are hiding concussions from their athletic trainer, so that the athlete is able to keep playing in a game. Some coaches even get mad at athletic trainers for taking out their players for what they think is just a “headache”. Most do not know the dangers of keeping a concussed athlete in the game. Between high school football and women’s soccer athletes, that sixty-nine percent of concussed athletes reported playing with symptoms, of those athletes, forty percent reported that their coach was not aware of their concussion (Rivara et al., 2014). In a research study a cumulative concussion incidence of one fall season resulted in 11.1% concussed women’s soccer athletes and 10.4% football athletes.

In training the youth this should extend to the athlete at the college or NFL they will have learned the concept and can be more teachable at a higher level of “Head Up Concussion.” A concussion can occur in any contact sport. If knowing what to do, and how to treat it medically is the challenge question to all sports leagues. Football, hockey, and soccer have the highest risk of youth players along with colleges and professional athletes sustaining a head injury. This is why coaching training is the best approach to decreasing concussion in our youth. Secondly placing the focus on educating youth athletes will also be the most effective way to reduce concussions in sports. This will also mean that by reducing concussions in different games, there must be advances in safety equipment, and greater results for competitors who are imprudent and unsafe in their perspective

A concussion is a mild type of traumatic brain injury, caused by a blow to the head. A Concussion is a common injury in high school sports. Doctors consider them to be a mild injury, because they are rarely life threatening. However, a concussion can range in severity and it can be difficult to determine how serious the injury is, even with a CT scan. The student 's ability to recover is greatly impacted by the severity of the injury. Each student 's recovery is different, and often students are cleared to practice before they have fully recovered. Alarmingly, if a concussed student athlete returns to their sport without fully recovering, they are at risk for life threatening second-impact syndrome. Head injuries are finally being addressed on the news, and getting the attention they deserve. Now is not the time for naivety, the health of student athletes needs to be priority. What exactly is second-impact syndrome and how is it being prevented in high school sports? Every coach, player, and parent needs to be aware of the risk involved in making hasty return to play decisions.

Concussions in sports are becoming a very big health issue. This has caused athletes to wonder if it is worth it to continue playing after getting one. A concussion is a temporary time of unconsciousness caused by a hit to the head. The term can also be the aftereffects including possible confusion or temporary incapacity. Whether the sport is football, hockey, soccer, or almost any other sport that causes physical contact. Statistics by sport show that from 2002-2012 concussion rates have doubled. About one in five high school athletes will be victims of  a sports concussion during a season. Football is the most common sport that has had a problem with concussions. About 47% of all reported concussions were recorded in high school football.

Most people do not realize how concussions can change lives in only just a couple of seconds. A concussion can occur when someone no matter what the age the person is can get a hard hit to the head, or hit to the Reticular Activating System part of the brain and that causes it to be moved out of it’s regular position ("Concussion - Causes Share”). Concussions can also happen anytime but for the most of the time they happen in sports due to all of the impact. Take football for example, football is one of the most biggest sport that contains concussions because of the collison from tackling each other on the field. Most concussions happen from some type of collision small or big, Kyle Turley said, “ you start on your own five-yard line, eighteen plays in a row sometimes. Every play: collision, collision, collision” (Gladwell). There will be reasons why concussions need to be reduced by changing little league football, and why concussions are dangerous for everyone. The programs for younger football leagues should be changed to reduce concussions in athletes because it is a risk to their life and can cause extreme damage physically and mentally later on.

U.S. high schools with at least one certified athletic trainer on staff found that concussions accounted for nearly 15% of all sports-related injuries. Football has long been known as a physically demanding sport, and stories about football players getting concussions flood the media everyday. Some people believe that playing football is not worth the risk that it is associated with, while others believe that football is a vital part of youth sports that has many advantages. There are multiple reasons for letting kids play football. Parents who let their kids play football; realize that the attributes they retain from football will last with them for the rest of their life. Football will continue benefiting them when the season is over. Players are taught not to hit head to head and are taught the proper formed tackle. Concussions are not as dangerous because athletic trainers diagnose and help the players immediately. The only reason that parents do not want their children to play is because there is a miniscule chance of injury. Everyone is scared of football because NFL players are complaining, and talking about how concussions have negatively affected them. People were not aware of concussions until recently. Concussions are the main reason, parents do not want their kids playing football. Due to the advantages that playing football as a youth has, such as teaching children and adolescents to set and achieve goals, promoting physical fitness, and fostering a hard work