Intervention For Concussion Awareness And Prevention Throughout The United States

Concussions occur on a large scale in football. During a concussion, the head can experience a blow directly or can have whiplash. When the head is hit, the brain hits the inside of the skull, giving it a temporary bruise. This bruise or tearing of the brain can lead to mental impairments that can affect a person’s emotional state of being, physical problems like deteriorated mobility and sensitivity to light and sound. Doctors are quick to point out one of the major reasons that youth receive concussions, saying, “... children have big heads relative to the rest of their bodies and weak necks… that elevates the risk of concussions,” (P6). Along with a lack of education and care for the protection of athletes, youth are already at a huge risk. When children wear their football helmets, they are saving themselves from many injuries that could have occurred without them, most especially protecting the brain. But, in many cases, this is not enough.

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

In a society where sports have become the focus for most youths, there has been increased attention to identification, diagnosis and prevention of sports-related

While in recent years there has been increasing awareness of the topic of concussions there is still much to be accomplished in the way of education of youth sport participants including

We have all heard of the term “sports injury”. Usually an accident that occurs when engaged in a sport, the ideal can apply from something as frustrating as a rolled ankle to the more debilitating shock of a broken arm. Yet the fact remains that these physical ailments will heal, and properly, if they are treated properly. But what about concussions? What are the long term effects? In her brief editorial in TIME magazine, Alexandra Sifferlin explores the effects of concussions and specifically how they affect children if they aren't disclosed.

The treatment for a concussion used to be as simple as taking time to rest, or smelling bath salts before returning to play. In today’s world, concussions are more appropriately recognized as a serious head injury. In order to correctly diagnose and treat concussions, professional action needs to occur. Preventative measures, proper assessments and diagnosis, correct treatments, and increasing awareness are a few ways to reduce an issue down to a more manageable position. Concussions are a common threat in many aspects of life today. From contact sports to accidental falls, head injuries are an increasing issue that needs to be recognized as such. Two to four million concussion injuries occur from sports and recreation settings in the United States every year (The American Academy of Neurology). Most of these injuries result in a full recovery, but there are people who are left with dehabilitating injuries for the remainder of their lives. Thankfully it is becoming well known that these problems exist, and many people are starting to take action.

Concussions have a huge impact on athletics and student athletes in our generation today. They effect people's lives for the worse and cause setbacks in education and athletic opportunities. Many students who get concussions from athletic activities return to play their sport too soon after getting the concussion, which can cause even more serious issues. Considering 300,000 sports related concussions occur each year, they are very relevant to our everyday lives. Returning to play a sport too soon after suffering from a concussion can result in the risk for a further injury or worse concussion, severe symptoms and healing, and the very likely chance for another concussion to occur.

The sports communities that require concussion education include the players themselves; their parents, the coaches, trainers, therapists, and referees; sports organizations/leagues; the media; teachers; and health care professionals. Several gains in recognition and management that impact upon concussion prevention can only be made through widespread of knowledge about concussions. Concussions are a serious issue in many professional sports. Concussions affect multiple sports in many ways. Many sports today are affected by the medical condition of concussions. Today, multiple leagues and professionals are learning how to prepare and prevent these career shattering injuries. With hundreds of medical advancements and a better understanding of the knowledge that the science has, we are assisting athletes to recover from these injuries. In order to understand concussions that lead the role on the games, one must look at the symptoms, injuries, and side-effects of this

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

In the article “Concussions Knowledge in High School Football Players” from the Journal of Athletic training on October 2014, writers Janie Cournoyer and Brady Tripp discuss that high school athletes fail to report symptoms of concussions due to their lack of knowledge on concussion education. For example, after a recent survey, Janie and Brady stated that 54% of participants receive knowledge of concussions from their parents, 60% from an academic source and 25% had no knowledge on what concussions is. The authors also included that most high students who don't report their concussion will likely suffer from post-concussion syndrome and second impact syndrome. It’s dreadful to hear that young athletes can suffer so much just because they lack information on how to evaluate a concussion. Not just the student athlete but the writer explains how parents and coaches have minimal knowledge on evaluating a concussion and choosing whether to put the athlete back to play. In addition, Janie and Brady mention that common symptom presented in a concussion were headaches, dizziness, and confusion. These all can be very harmful to a young athlete because it puts their health at risk. As stated in the article, about 60 - 70% of athletes who suffer a concussion will experience a coma or

Brain trauma is extremely dangerous and in some cases fatal. It is imperative for anyone participating in sports to learn the signs and symptoms of a concussion as well as the long-term effects. Educating the youth of these consequences will teach them that it is key to abstain from high intensity, contact sports until completely healed to ensure their best possible health. Thank you for your time and I hope to hear from you

Many private companies and researchers have taken the issue of concussions head on. Research has drastically increased throughout the 21st century. In the words of Mark Lovell PhD. founding director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program, “90% of what we know about concussions we’ve learned in the past five years.” These private researchers have taken different approaches to solving the issue but they are all working to achieve one goal: the reduction of concussions and the prevention of their long-term effects.

Based on the research we have done in Science Class for our STEM Design Challenge, I have found that concussions are way more severe than one may think. It is very important not to disregard the importance of concussion awareness, especially because of our various sports and activities that students participate in throughout the school. Safety helmets can help with this issue, but we need to make sure that they are safe and reliable. We should also take action by informing our parents and communities about the importance of concussion awareness, and we should additionally find other ways to support students recovering from concussions at home.

“CDC reports show that the amount of reported concussions has doubled in the last 10 years. The American Academy of Pediatrics has reported that emergency room visits for concussions in kids ages 8 to 13 years old has doubled, and concussions have risen 200 percent among teens ages 14 to 19 in the last decade” (Head Case, 2013). It is reported that between 5-10% of athletes will suffer concussion during any given sports season. Football is the most common sport with concussion risk for males with a 75% chance. It has also been found that 78% of concussions happen during games as opposed to during practices (Science Daily, 2014).

The CDC estimates that there are 1.6 to 3.8 million concussions related to sports and recreational activities each year (as cited in Daneshvar, Nowinski, McKee, & Cantu, 2011). Of the 275,000 hospital admissions related to head injuries in the United States each year, 75-90% are mild traumatic brain injuries (TBI), which includes sports-related concussions (Waltrip, 2014). This number is likely underestimated because many people who suffer a mild or moderate TBI do not seek medical attention (Evans, 2015). The concussion rate has increased over the past two decades; however, there is question whether this truly reflects an increase in concussions, if the rise is due to the improvements in detection, or a combination (Daneshvar et al., 2011).