Reflection About Concussions

Concussions in the NFL have been a big topic over the years and will continue to plague the League and the Players. In fact in 2015 alone 271 players suffered a concussion over the whole season (CNN). However People don’t realize what happens to the player after they get a concussion in the NFL. Concussions change players lives after playing the NFL. As a result of concussion sustained in the NFL, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), and dementia occur.

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

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

Today, one of the more common injuries in youth sports is a concussion. A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury that occurs after a player has either taken a hit to their body that has caused both the head a brain to quickly jerk back and forth, or by a sudden shock or knock to the head. With the force and sudden movement, there is movement of the brain which can cause chemical changes that can lead to permanent or stretching the brain cells. By the above definition you can start to think of many instances in sports where a player can receive a concussion.

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.

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.

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.

More than 300,000 sports-related concussions are reported each year in the United States, and although the awareness of concussions and other head injuries is rising, concussions are still very dangerous to young athletes. Some may say that after an athlete receives a concussion, they just have to wait until the obvious, and most common symptoms like dizziness and nausea subside before they can play again; with medication, and constant rest, this may only take 2 weeks, however, depending on the severity of the injury, there could be some other underlying symptoms that are even more dangerous than the obvious ones. After a having a concussion, student athletes are also much more prone to a second, more severe, traumatic head injury (especially

Did you know, that someone suffers from a brain injury every 21 seconds (Haas)? Children get concussions all the time, and most of the time they go unnoticed. The majority of concussions happen when one is playing a sport such as football, hockey, or lacrosse. Many famous athletes have had their careers, even their lives cut short due to concussions. Brain damage and death can result from serial concussions (Schafer). When one suffers from a concussion, one’s brain needs time to recover physically and mentally. Between 2002 and 2006, statistics showed that 52,000 people died from concussions and about 275,000 were hospitalized (Fundukian). Everyone’s recovery process is different (“Injury and

Concussions are injuries to the brain that can be caused by any significant blunt force trauma to the head such as a fall, car accident, being struck on the head with an object, or sports injury. Sports are second only to motor vehicle accidents as the leading cause of traumatic brain injury particularly among people who are 15 to 24 years old (Solomon, 2006). Pediatric physicians care for a significant number of patients who are involved in sport-related activities in schools or clubs, however most sport-related concussions are never diagnosed because young athletes may not recognize or report the symptoms of a concussion. It is important for physicians to know that although concussions are the most minor of traumatic brain injuries, if not detected and managed properly, they can lead to more serious short-term and long-term issues.

Concussions are a real problem, but what they cause with CTE is even more important. With the research being done by doctors is helping the NFL take steps to help lessen the amount of concussions that they have been having from year to year. The reason the NFL has had a drop-in concussion is because they have been making rules that players cannot hit the neck or head area so that nobody will launch their selves at someone else, which is helping but will not make the whole problem giving that the fact that CTE is going to be a problem because there is no way that concussions are the many reasons that people can get CTE. The reason why is because a player can hit their head against the ground and not get a concussion.

In recent years concussions have become more and more of a topic due to their effects on the people who receives them. Concussions can cause a multitude of problems for a person later in their life whether they suffered from a major concussion or just a minor concussion. These problems can occur if a person ended up with multiple concussions over a lifetime or if they only have had one single concussion The problems a person can encounter are all somewhat connected but very diverse at the same time. Most of the problems a person will encounter will be due to a change in that person's brain but they can range from simple memory problems to suicidal problems.

Concussions are a major injury in contact sports. A concussion is a traumatic brain injury. This injury will affect your brain function. Major blows to the head can cause concussions. The neck and upper body can cause your brain to slide back and forth in the inner walls of your skull. There are many major and minor symptoms for concussions. Some of the symptoms are headaches, difficulty with concentration, loss of memory, hard time balancing, ringing in the ears, temporary loss of conscious, nausea, vomiting, and delayed responses. There are many treatments, preventions, and care for concussions.

Sports-related concussions might just be the biggest worry for any athlete at any level. A concussion is a thing that every athlete battles over time. Everyone knows that injuries are given when it comes to sports. Especially concussions which can put an athlete out for weeks or even forever. Many student-athletes have been a great issue that can easily be resolved from thorough and informative Training. Concussions can prevent or reduced if we are if we go through concussion prevention training in high school, which is usually the starting point for most athletes. Concussion training can help athletes diagnose a concussion, treat a concussion, and to even use proper technique to prevent and minimize sports caused a concussion. Even though every athlete does not experience a concussion many people can benefit from the training that could save a life.

It’s important to try and get parents involved with the rules and law for concussions. The graph above shows that concussions haven’t changed at all over the past year of years in general. The graph doesn’t really help the laws point on why it’s good. If anything it hurts in more than try to convince parents and or guardians that it can and will help improve concussion problems. Many of the politicians say that kids may be the blame for the problem. How they play and approach the sport. Can affect the outcome of the injuries or injuries of other athletes. Kids do have a lot of affected on how they can receive a concussion or head injury. But many parents believe the politician are just making excuses.