Personal Essay: The Concussions And The Value Of Education

Imagine that one day you woke up and could no longer do the simple things you enjoy in life. What if you couldn’t even read the paper or watch a movie with a loved one? Many current and former athletes are suffering through this every day, and the reason for this is long-term brain damage which is a direct result of concussions. Unfortunately concussions have been rising at an alarming rate. This trend has not only been occurring in big money professional sports, but also in amateur sports like youth soccer. Concussions are quickly becoming an epidemic across the entire sporting world. Each year about 300 000 amateur and professional athletes suffer head injuries (Mcphee 1). Athletics must make

Even though football players are aware of the dangers the game can bring upon them, they take part despite it. The passion, the joy it creates; for professionals it’s also the devoted fans and compensation they receive is what keeps the players motivated. Today players are much bigger, faster, smarter, bigger, better. The game is more physical. The sport has never been so competitive. The popularity has reached new peaks, as much that the NFL has thoughts of moving a team to London, England. Additionally, Super Bowl XLVII (47) was one of the most watched television events of all time; an astonishing 108.4 million viewers (The Associated Press). Fans worship their teams and love to see big hits. Football is a contact sport; injuries are no

Many memories are made in football, but sadly some of the greatest players cannot recall them. The National Football League has been associated with concussions and brain traumas throughout the years, but lately it has been exposed by media and NFL veterans. The league recently “reached a $765 million preliminary settlement with thousands of former players who were suing the league over its treatment of concussions…” (Waldron). Many former players are experiencing the effects of taking hard hits over and over again; they were not properly treated, which makes the injury worse and long term. The concussion issue in the NFL is more prevalent today, because it affects not only the players, but the league as a whole.

A concussion is when you go unconsciousness for a little while caused by a blow to the head. The term is also used loosely of the after effects such as confusion or temporary incapacity. Concussion is are known as a mild brain injury that is a mild brain injury MTBI mild head injury and a little head trauma. Some experts will define a concussion as a head injury with temporary loss of brain function which can cause some cognitive physical and emotional symptoms. Symptoms may also include headache, confusion, lack of coordination. The term concussion describes an injury to the brain resulting from a hard impact to the head. By definition a concussion is not a life threatening injury but should be treated fast . The use of protective headgear can decrease the risk of a concussion when you are engaging in any of the following activities Contact martial arts sports such as boxing, karate, and others Football. Most post concussion symptoms such as headaches, sensitivity to noise and light, dizziness, fatigue and memory problems go away with about seven to ten days after the injury but sometimes post concussion symptoms can last up to about 3 months. Rarely do symptoms last longer. What can you do when you have a concussion? Some people who have had a concussion find that at first it

It wasn’t until Dr. McKee and other researchers presented evidence of CTE in football players during a congressional hearing with the U.S. House of Representatives, in 2009, that the NFL changed its approach to addressing these findings. Later that year, during an interview with The New York Times, NFL Spokesman Greg Aiello stated “it’s quite obvious from the medical research that’s been done that concussion can lead to long-term problems.” This was one of the first times the league admitted that concussions and brain injuries had long-term impact on players. Admitting that there was a problem was one of the first steps in overhauling their approach to CTE’s impact on football players. Towards the end of that year, there was a shake up

Our world we live in have so many of athletes. Have we ever thought about the life threatening injuries they go through? There should be a rule in football to stop head contact on the field to limit concussion rate and for safety/health purposes. There should be no physical head contact in the game.

In the world of football, big hits are something that are looked at in a positive light. They are seen as a way of asserting dominance over other players and it is celebrated by teammates. Big hits are a very crucial, almost necessary, part of the game that millions of people gather to watch every Sunday. However, in the past decade, the NFL and other organization have realized that concussions can lead to very serious problems later in life. One of these problems is known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). It is a degenerative brain disease, much like Alzheimer’s, that mainly effects individuals in high contact sports such as boxing or football. Over time, this connection between concussions and CTE has become more common knowledge and more people have started asking the question “do the risks of children playing football outweigh the benefits?”. The answer to this question is yes, football is entirely too violent for children to be playing. According to “Big Hits, Broken Dreams”, one in ten football players gets a concussion, and 35% of players have more than one. The video also states that only 50% of high schools in the United States have a certified athletic trainer on the field (CNN, 2012). If concussions are really a concern for the schools, then why are there not more athletic trainers on staff at these schools to deal with sports injuries? This also forces the public to question these schools even more because if they are willing to cut costs and not hire a

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

Sports injuries are often thought of as being physically visible as soon as they happen. Many of these injuries are imagined to be bloody wounds, broken bones, or torn ligaments. Since injuries like the ones mentioned beforehand are visible with the naked eye, they are treated immediately and are not taken lightly. Concussions, on the other hand, are head injuries that cannot be seen with the naked eye. This is what makes concussions more frequent and dangerous to athletes. Concussions are “traumatically induced physiological disruption of brain function that can be caused by either a direct blow to the head or by indirect forces transmitted to the head” (Johnson 181). The symptoms of a concussion include, but are not limited to, headache, dizziness, loss of balance, and blurred vision (McCrea, Hammeke, Olsen, Leo, and Guskiewicz 15). Some patients may not experience any symptoms. Concussions cannot be diagnosed without extensive medical procedures so they are often overlooked. The effects of concussions are often mentally and physiological rather than physical. According to Dr, Syd Johnson, “concussions can result in deficits in attention and concentration, reaction time, processing speed and memory, and executive function” (Johnson 181).

The quarterback drops back into the pocket and begins looking down field towards his receivers. One of the defensive linemen breaks through the offensive line and the quarterback quickly throws the ball away, but not before he is slung to the ground. As the quarterback lands on the ground, his head cracks back and hits the turf with tremendous force; and despite wearing a protective football helmet, the quarterback suffers a severe concussion. Concussions happen weekly in the NFL to players of all positions due to the tremendous force these players are hit with weekly and need to be noted more carefully. The short and long term effects of multiple concussions can be devastating to the human mind. Not only does the brain suffer long term

In the U.S. alone, athletes suffer from roughly 300,000 concussions per year; 3,800,000 concussions were reported in 2012, which is double of what was reported in 2002. A concussion may be defined as a type of traumatic brain injury—or TBI—caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or by a hit to the body that causes the head and brain to move rapidly back and forth. This sudden movement can cause the brain to bounce around or twist in the skull, stretching and damaging the brain cells and creating chemical changes in the brain. Concussions are not usually considered life-threatening, but they may result in effects to the brain that may lead to devastating outcomes. Concussions are serious injuries that need to be taken seriously because of their severity and the serious health disorders that may arise.

Recreational athletes, competitive athletes, high school athletes, college athletes, and professional athletes all have one thing in common: the risk of a concussion. It's impossible to go a season without one athlete from a team receiving a concussion. The more that these concussions are studied, the more we learn about them, such as their detrimental effects on athletes. Because of the risk of health issues and death that come with concussions, doctors, coaches, athletic trainers, and lawmakers are stepping in to protect athletes of all levels from receiving concussions.

5 Million Dollars. May seem like a tremendous sum of money to you, but is it really a massive amount of money in comparison to the amount of suffering former NFL players have received from head injuries. Not only are they not getting enough money for what they’ve been through they’ve been lied to their whole careers. The NFL has hidden the fact that football and concussions are linked. The reason why the NFL has done this is because they are scared. In this, I will explain to you why.

Many of the earliest effects that athletes suffer from, after sustaining a concussion are: headaches, stroke, seizures, nausea, vomiting, internal bleeding, and hydrocephalus, a buildup of fluid in the brain ("Consequences of a Traumatic Brain Injury", 2016). These are all conditions, that an athlete can suffer from within hours or a few days of an initial hit to the head. These conditions range from minor to severe, the most severe being internal bleeding, and hydrocephalus and the minor ones being, nausea and vomiting ("Consequences of a Traumatic Brain Injury", 2016). No matter the severity of the concussion and it’s affects an athlete that has received multiple concussions is more likely to be faced with conditions that are not as noticeable at first, but lead to a life filled with pain and confusion (Brain Concussion Related Diseases & Conditions, 2016). When an athlete has a buildup of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), this leads to hydrocephalus. Hydrocephalus, may not be apparent when a Traumatic Brain Injury first occurs, but it does occur in the early stages. However a diagnosis may not appear till a year

Sports are known to be competitive when it comes to winning against your opponents. The Superbowl, the Olympics, and the World Cup are very popular among different age groups in our society today. Just seeing your favorite team playing gets your adrenaline going, your heart beating faster, and sitting at the edge of our seats with one question in our mind: will they win? In the end, we could erupt with cheers, or give a cold glare. Feelings are mutual but what we should keep in consideration is the health of the athletes.