Informative Speech On Head Injury

Head injuries, including concussions, particularly in the game of American football, have become a subject of deep concern, much study and even Congressional hearings in the United States.

Thesis: Youth and High School football teams are not adequately protected from the danger of concussions and head trauma.

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

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

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

Concussions in youth sports has recently became more popular in the news. Mukand and Serra recently discovered, “about 1.6- 3.8 million sports-related concussions occur every year, and a recent study found that 182,000 football players may sustain at least one concussion annually in youth (99,000), high school (76,640), and NCAA football programs (3,905), or about 1 in 30 players and 1 in 14 high school players” (16). The amount of concussions should be alarming to athletes and the parents. Hospitals have noticed a growing number of visits from children and young adults with concussions because of sports, but it is unclear if the rise is due to more concussions or more reports due to better awareness of concussions (Mitka 1775-1776). Concussions could be on the rise or more people are recognizing the symptoms of concussions and then reporting them. Either way, concussions in youth sports need to be reduced or completely eliminated. Sports related concussions in youth can be prevented with proper education and technique. Efficient and reliable equipment and better rules and regulations in youth sports can also prevent concussions and brain injuries in youth and adolescents.

In the article, “Sports and Brain Injury,” Michael McCrea, Lindsay Nelson and Julie Janecek report on the surprising prevalence and effects of sport-related concussions (SRCs). Concussions are among the most frequent injuries experienced by athletes participating in contact and collision sports (McCrea, Nelson and Janecek, 2014). Neurologists have increasingly studied the short and long-term effects of these brain injuries on athletes.

Participation in any athletic activity directly increases risk of injury.Throughout this research, many of the sources have provided information about the methods of preventing a concussion, different types of concussions or brain injuries, and medical treatments for concussions. Many athletes today receive concussions when participating in sports, mainly football and soccer. Some ways to prevent a concussion from happening would be to wear protective gear, and watching your eating habits, as this can lead to an occurrence of a concussion (Halstead). Concussions are a major public health issue and many athletes may face the risk of receiving a concussion. A concussion is a clinical syndrome of symptoms and signs occurring after biomechanical force is imparted to the brain. The different types of concussions or brain injuries include mild traumatic brain injury, postconcussion symptoms, postconcussion syndrome,which is the symptoms after receiving a concussion, chronic neurocognitive impairment, subconcussive injury, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, Cervical Trauma Syndrome, the neck pain and stiffness after receiving the concussion, and Cerebral Palsy, which causes loss of function and mobility (Hecimovich). For people who receive concussions and have to attend school, there is a new program specifically in Guilford County Schools named “Return to Learn Method for concussions”. This program is considered to be a method to assist people who have received a concussion from playing a sport to get back on track, refresh their minds and try and remember the material they have learned. Another reason why this program would be an important method after receiving a concussion would be for the simple fact that it would help the student recover and relieve the pain in their head. Depending on how severe the athlete got hit in the head, this would determine whether the athlete has a slight headache, or a severe head injury that would require full treatment. When an athlete gets critical damage to the head, then this would possibly lead to a severe brain injury and would cause the athlete to suffer from many symptoms like headaches, fuzzy or blurry vision, dizziness, sensitivity to noise or light, balance problems,

In “Concussions Among University Football and Soccer Players” J. Scott Delaney, Vincent J. Lacroix, Suzanne Leclerc, and Karen M. Johnston created a survey to observe concussion behavior among 240 Canadian university soccer players throughout a year. Out of the 240 soccer players, 62.7% had a confirmed concussion the year before, but only 19.8% realized that they had been concussed at the time. Of those with a concussion, 81.7% had more than one concussion. The authors’ conclusion of the study is that University soccer players appear to have experienced a multitude of concussions while paying soccer. Things that appeared to increase the chances of getting a concussion were if the athlete had a history of getting concussion, and the rate of

Athletes around the world come together every day to compete and with competition comes injuries. Athletic trainers are typically the first responders to assist the athletes and provide diagnoses and treatment. Although injuries are always going to happen the main responsibility of an athletic trainer is to prevent them from happening. There are a wide range of possible injuries in which an athlete can get into, concussions are one of the most common types of injuries during sporting activities. As a matter of fact, concussions occur at a rate of 1.6 to 3.8 million per year during sporting activities (Broglio). However, these figures fall short as there are many concussion injuries, which are unreported by either athletes or coaches and often

An athlete who returns to the game, prematurely, after a head injury and sustains a second impact, Second Impact Syndrome (SIS), to the head has a one in two chances of sudden death. There is a 90% chance of a soccer player sustaining a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that will have debilitating results. Reportedly there are 1.3 million to 3.6 million concussions a year. A football player in high school will sustain as much as 1,800 impacts each season. (When Is One Hit Too Many?"). However, this is not the hidden epidemic that is going on and affecting millions, in which many of its victims are “suffering in silence and obscurity” (Omalu). Recurrent concussions have been proven to cause a disease called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).

Studies like the study at Virginia Tech can be used to identify the root cause of consussions and may in result, lead to a solution to the mass head trauma experienced by youth and even professional players. Because concussions occur so often in football, it is a suitable ground sero for the research on consussions in sports. It can lead to better medical diagnosis on the field where spli-second decisions are made and even in domestic cases. I addition, because concussions are a very misunderstood injury, this research is needed. The study wishes to develop a better helmet for football specifically but sports like hoccer could be benefitted too. The general knowledge of concussions would expand if more advanced and specific studies like these

During the investigation of the epidemiology of concussions, they compared high school and college athletes. They found approximately 300,000 sports related brain injuries happens yearly in the United States, which is the second leading cause of brain injuries for ages 15 to 24. The sample included 100 high schools and 180 colleges and the data calculated rates, described patterns, and likely risk factors for athletes.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stated that more than 200,000 children have been treated for soccer related injuries, including concussions being a main injury(Bain 4). Concussions are frequently happening time after time in the game of soccer. Contact with other players, the ground, the ball, and many other serious injuries are causing the shaking of the brain; therefore, leading to lack of knowledge, memory, eyesight and many other issues. Headgear may be the solution to decreasing the amount of concussions that occur in soccer. Concussions cause brain damage which can affect your eyesight and your thought process. This may result

I have been playing soccer since I was 3 years old. Growing up I have seen many of my friends and teammates become effected by head injuries from the game. Whether it be from direct head to head contact from another player, or from heading a driven ball, I have seen the many different effects of a head injury.