Student Athlete Concussions

In sports, the best athletes are the individuals that give each team a chance to win every game. The bad news for the best athletes is that sometimes their health gets put second to their abilities. Roughly 1.8 to 3.6 million sports related concussions happen each year (Concussion Statistics). Stronger and faster athletes as well as more impact of the hits or falls have doubled the number of concussions in a decade (Concussion Statistics). Concussions can happen to every athlete, but when it happens to the star athletes, it is different. Schools have to follow direct concussion safety laws, but professional sports have more leniencies (Get). Wins are more important in the professional leagues compared to the high school and amateur levels.

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

The participants that was selected for this research were athletes that were practicing and competing during the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 academic school year. A total of fifty seven concussed college athletes were selected from five northeastern universities active in basketball, soccer, lacrosse, baseball, football, wrestling, gymnastics, softball, volleyball, and cheerleading. From the fifty seven collegiate that were selected 36 of them did not have any history while 21 of the athletes have two or more history of concussion. This study did not include athletes with a history of one concussion due to the fact that their sample size provided inadequate data.

Big or Small: Concussion. Concussions are a head injure acquired from movement of the brain. Some causes of a concussion are “a bad fall, hit to the head, or stopping abruptly” (Elizabeth Smoots, 2015). This injure is most common in American football. In American football, many players receive hard blows to the head or is shoved down to the ground.

Student athletes can receive terrible effects due to one or more concussions. Some of these effects are short term and some are long lasting. Some of the effects of concussions

In the interview video “Concussion hazards in youth football” by Dr. Drew and Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Dr. Sanjay Gupta states, “ When young kids get a concussion a few times the brain damage can become a long term effect for them.” This quote reveals that these kids that are playing football and getting concussion can have long term effects that can ruin their future and their career. Every year at least 3.8 million concussions occur in sports. That is a large number of people, getting brain damage. After a few concussion your brain takes a little bit longer to heal since it has been hurt many times. These concussion can even lead to fatal

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.

Short term effects from a concussion can include headaches, dizziness, nausea, blurred vision, change in sleep patterns, depression, mood swings, or even memory loss. On the other hand, there are helmets for most sports so if you do get hit in the head the impact is reduced. The only thing about the helmets is that it reduces the impact, the impact isn't taken away. Long term effects of a concussion, however, can include emotional distress, slowing of certain types of movements, and an increase in possibility of suicide. Most families and or coaches have their personal assumptions about a concussion which can't be proven correct until a licensed physician decides the patient is ok to keep playing. It is not always the case that parents decide the athlete is just fine, sometimes it is the athlete themselves. Athletes often have a fear of being removed from the sport or activity so they don't mention their signs and symptoms to avoid being benched or sat out of the game. When someone fails to notice the signs and symptoms of an athlete with a concussion long term symptoms can come into effect which can lead to permanent brain damage and possible

Returning to sports and play too soon increases the risk of another concussion. Young people who have more than one concussion are at greater risk for chronic headaches and problems with learning.

High school athletes are more vulnerable to concussions than older students and make take longer to recover. In order for their brains to heal completely, they need to take longer time to recover.

There could be several long-term effects after a concussion such as physical, emotional and cognitive damage. These symptoms are due to concussions, which cause skepticism, dismissiveness, difficulty completing tasks, self -esteem issues and headaches. Often victims of neurodegenerative diseases such as concussions, experience issues with short term memory and completing simple every day tasks. Although research does not show that there are any long-term effects to concussions in athletes as long as each injury is treated properly, these issues impact the daily lives of athletes. Each athletic department should continuously educate their athletes on concussion prevention and the long- term and short-term effects of concussions. Not only should they be educated on the effects and severity but also how to recognize whether they have incurred a concussion or not. By effectively educating athletes about the risks associated with contact sports, they will be well informed and prepared follow necessary protocol in order to receive the proper

However, with this info, how much does being younger really effect someone's recovery and chance of a concussion? It's quite a lot, and high school athletes have three times more chance of receiving a second concussion all in one season after getting one. This just shows how they don't recover enough to withstand another. They shouldn't have athletes continue for that season. The damage of the first concussion may explain the syndromes that come with it. Such as head aches, dizziness, irritability, and can lead to depression as

Concussions are brain injuries that happen when there is a significant hit to the head. While not all concussions result in a loss consciousness, they do often include nausea, difficulty concentrating, loss of balance, dizziness, amnesia, disorientation, headaches and other symptoms. Athletes who participate in contact sports like football, wrestling, hockey, boxing, and soccer most commonly get concussions. Gymnasts and skiers are also at risk.

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.

Youth athletes experiencing concussions is a very serious matter. When an adolescent first experiences a concussion, they may seem dazed and confused. The adolescent may show signs of dizziness and have trouble recalling basic information. If after a blow to the head an athlete displays these signs, they should stop playing immediately and be taken out of the competition (Khabie 1). But just how prevalent in youth football are concussions? Some claim that most players experience head trauma that will leave a lasting negative effect on the athlete’s brain. Others believe that concussions in youth football are very rare and most of the time have no long term effects on the athlete. Many would say that even if there is risk of injury, football provides many positive opportunities