Introduction Sports related concussions have become an increasing problem among young athlete, especially seen among athletes who take part in high contact sports such as football. Concussions can be defined as an impulse blow to the head.1 There has been a growing amount of studies about sports concussions, which have provided a variety of evidence-based practice about athletes safe return to play.1 The research to date suggest a common theme on managing a player’s return to play reflecting players should ‘rest until symptom free.’2 Athletes resting allows for the brain to recover and be able to re-establish neurometabolic balances and restore ideal neurological function.2 Many high school athletes are not see taking time for complete rest, including rest from studying, video games, and texting, which can further cause a delay in return to play, which makes it necessary for health care providers, coaches, players, and parents to have a direct understanding of the recovery process of a concussion. 1,2,3 The goal of this study was to investigate the knowledge of varsity football players and coaches about concussion symptoms, along with identifying players suffering from a concussion, based on the current summary and protocol tools provided by Sport Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT) and King Devick tests.
Review of Literature
The research to date indicates that 300,000 sports related concussions occur each year.1 It is estimated in a recent review that as many as 3.8
Concussions have become a major controversy in the United States. Because of uninformed students and negligent coaches, many student athletes are experiencing the severe complications that accompany the injury. High school athletes seem to be the most affected and for this reason are more vulnerable than other students to experience concussions. Not properly managing concussions in time could have significant and problematic injuries that could potentially effect the victims overall ability to live a healthy life. For this reason, athletes should have to stay out of any physical activity for the necessary time to allow their brain to properly heal.
Concussions can have severe effects on an athlete. They can lead depression, memory loss, and event death. However, with growing research, it is possible to take preventative measures, identify the likelihood of a concussion and engage in treatment. Undiagnosed concussions can lead to more severe injuries and athletes should be concerned about, aware of them and treat them. With new technology, greater awareness, and growing acceptance that concern should be less on winning a game than preventing and treating a concussion, it is possible that one day, concussions may be a rare thing of the
Each year approximately about 300,000 sports-related concussions are reported in the United States. The study has found out that an athlete who has suffered 1 concussion are at greater risk of suffering from another concussion. Sport-related concussion is still considered one of the main problem medicine professionals are dealing with. Research has also shown that multiple concussions have had detrimental effects on athletes participating in boxing, men's ice hockey, and men's soccer. Research on multiple concussions has been retrospective, using only posttest designs. Several researchers have suggested that the cumulative effects of repeated concussions can have long-term consequences. Collegiate football players with a history of 3 or more concussions were at 3 times greater risk for suffering another concussion compared with athletes without a history of concussion. Athletes with a history of 3 or more concussions presented more symptoms and poorer memory performance on neurocognitive testing at baseline than athletes with no history of concussion. These findings suggest that a history of concussion may place an athlete at risk for developing long-term sequelae associated with postconcussion
Concussions in high school sports doubled from 2005 to 2012. High School’s put in a new rule called “Return to Play” this rule was put into place so players waited the right amount of time to come back after receiving a serious head injury. Coming back to quick with a concussion can get you hurt even more or possibly cause permanent brain damage. Studies show that a concussion from a high school athlete takes longer to recover from than for older athletes. Also, studies show that even teenagers are at risk for head trauma not just adults and older athletes. Between 2005 and 2012, four thousand twenty-four concussions were diagnosed in nine sports. This is a very high number for just high school sports alone. Concussions have went up in 5 sports mainly those sports are football, wrestling, baseball, basketball and softball. Therefore, concussions have not only effected football. Many people fail to realize how many athletes are truly affected by a
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.
Recent research found that when children who play football and other contact sports suffer repeated jolts to the head, it can cause lasting damage to the developing brain. That can be true even when kids do not suffer any concussions. This was startling news, given that Pee Wee and Pop Warner players sustain from 240 to 585 head hits per season between ages 9 and 12, a critical period of brain development. As a result, some prominent voices have urged parents not to let their kids play the game, among them neuropathologist Bennet Omalu, whose discovery of the progressive brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in former NFL players is depicted in the film Concussion. Omalu contends that children under 18 should not be allowed to risk their future by playing football. "Our children are minors who have not reached the age of consent," he says. A growing number of athletes now agree, including the hard-nosed former NFL tight end and coach
Introduction: Has one of your favorite football,basketball,soccer or hockey players been diagnosed with a concussion? With over 3.6 million sports related concussions reported per year - There’s a chance you may wanna stay tuned to insure they didn’t
The purpose of the study is to bring awareness about the seriousness of concussion injuries. Examining the severity of high school athletes who suffered sport related concussions is critical to determine the short term/long term damaging effects. When athletes’ concussions go undiagnosed, the risk of further damages increases since they are not fully recovered. This means that athletes will return to participation unknowingly since the injury goes undetected. In addition, when parents, coaches, doctors, and athletes are aware about the dangers of concussions, they can have a conversation and discuss the best options to ensure the safety of athletes. This means that injured athletes will not be allowed to participate under any
Football is a sport of grit, strength, and toughness. It’s a matter of if you can dominate the man across the line from you. The game is filled with amazing runs, graceful catches, but more often, big hits. Today’s game of football has evolved to bigger and stronger athletes, and that takes a physical toll on someone. The biggest problem in football today is concussions.
Sports hold tremendous value in American society and all athletes have at least one thing in common: the risk of getting a concussion. A concussion is a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that results from a direct/indirect action or force that causes the brain to shake rapidly within the skull (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2016). This injury can mildly or severely affect the brain’s function by damaging brain cells and producing chemical alterations (CDC, 2016). Throughout the years, concussions have been more prevalent not only in professional sports, but among youth, college, and recreational sports as well. Despite the remarkably high statistics on concussions in the U.S., many cases still go unreported (Groce & Urankar, 2016, p. 22). Sustaining this injury can significantly set a person back physically, mentally, and emotionally. Due to the risks and health issues associated with concussions doctors, athletic trainers, coaches, and lawmakers are getting involved to protect athletes of all levels from receiving concussions.
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).
The issue of concussions in sports has dramatically increased in recent years. An estimated 3.8 million sports and recreation related concussions occur each year where football related concussions have the highest percentage. Many football players sustain hits that are enough to do cumulative damage to young brain tissue but not enough to cause immediate symptoms says Zach Rummel,
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
For decades, football has been one of the most admired sports in America but also considered one of the most harmful. The injuries in football can vary from shin splints, fractured wrists and to torn ACLs but the injury that causes the most damage are concussions. It is not unheard of for football players to have concussions but it is surprising how unaware they are about the long-term effects. The coaches are not any better because they are telling the players to shake off the injury and then encouraging them to get back in the game. For too long football programs have been downplaying concussions, while they have denied it for too long, the new interest and attention in concussions has the potential to improve athletes’ safety.
A recent study of college football players has shown that those who participate in high contact sports and have had a concussion before have a 300% higher chance of having another one in comparison to athletes that have never had a concussion before (Jolicoeur et al, 2007). The NFL and NCAA have enacted several rule changes in order to minimize the occurrence of concussions. These new rules, like many before them, have come under the scrutiny of the very athletes that they were meant to protect. The NHL and NHL Players Association in 1997 together created a program in order to get a better understanding of concussions and how to prevent them (Burke et al, 2011). According to Covassin (2008), athletes who have had more than one concussion take a longer time to recover with each concussion that they suffer from.