Concussions In Sports

A nationwide epidemic is occurring throughout the United States and is on the rise. Although many know about it, they fail to realize the side effects and diseases that can that lay dormant, waiting to be awakened and devastate their lives and potentially end them. Concussions are increasing annually among athletes in contact sports. Children and adults participating in these particular sports are potential victims of concussions and the long lasting side effects. The concerns of athletes receiving concussions is rising because as studies progress, many are leading to the conclusion that concussions impose future health complications.

A concussion is an mTBI that affects brain function and is caused by a single blow or violent shaking of the head or upper body (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2017). Most sport-related head injuries are minor and although the majority of athletes who suffer a concussion recover within a few days or weeks, a small number of individuals develop long-lasting or progressive symptoms. This is especially true in cases of repetitive concussion or mTBI in which at least 17% of individuals develop CTE (McKee et al., 2015). The incidence rates recorded thus far for concussions is highly likely to be a very conservative number and seriously under-estimates the true incidence. Reasons for this being that: a) reports by associations tend to only record athletes who experience a loss of consciousness (LOC) and b) players and coaches usually lack awareness of or minimize symptoms of

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.

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.

Concussions in sports are becoming a bigger deal than most people think, the numbers of high school students with concussions per year have been rising since 2009. The formal definition of a concussion is a clinical syndrome characterized by immediate and transient alteration in brain function, including alteration of mental status and level of consciousness, resulting from mechanical force or trauma. It is said that the brain “moves rapidly around inside the skull” ("Concussion Facts”.)The symptoms of concussions are so subtle that many people overlook them without realizing that the person actually has a brain injury, making the concussion a lot more dangerous, because they are not treated for their injury. More information is needed about concussions and use that new knowledge to help prevent the future children from getting that traumatic brain injury. For young people ages 15 to 24 years old, sports are the second

Concussions I. Introduction: Concussions and the ongoing treatments thereafter have been the source of much scrutiny throughout the history of organized athletics, and recently the attention on professional sports organization’s handlings of such issues has increased and a call to action is underway. There is new talk going on about how to manage the issue of concussions and questions being raised about who is at fault for the prevention and supervision of such injuries. Now that it’s known a solution is required, the struggle is on whether the right choice is to make the players more aware and informed of the problems, or whether putting the responsibility into the organizations hands to protect their players and establish the limits is the

I'll be making a plunge profundity with the indications, dangers, causes and why competitors keep on playing the diversion that they cherish. Therefore, it has been stated in numerous articles and reports in this special issue on sport-related concussion, education about concussions is one of the most important aspects of concussion prevention or education, with the others being data collection, program evaluation, improved engineering, and introduction of enforcing of rules in each sport. As an athlete no one should return to play or any activity while signs of a concussion are

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.

The sale of professional football jerseys, t-shirts, hats and other clothes are making teams very rich. On any given Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday night, it is not hard to find groups of people that have gathered to enjoy the game of professional American football. All of this is taking place in a time where concussion or head injuries have begun to gain attention at every level of the game. As more and more games are being played, we are beginning to see more and more concussion injuries on the playing field. While we think that this would scare people, the popularity of the game continues to be at great levels.

The concussion rates among high school, collegiate, and professional athletes is increasing at an alarming rate. The United States alone reports 1.6 to 3.8 million cases of sport-related concussions per year2-4, 9, 12. The 1.6 to 3.8 million does not account for the large number of concussions that remain unreported by athletes2-4, 9, 12. According to McCrory et al., a concussion is defined as a complex pathophysiological process that disturbs the brain, which is prompted by traumatic biomechanical forces 10. Sports- related concussions are one of the most complex injuries, which makes them difficult to assess. The cerebral functional deficits that occur in one athlete may be completely the opposite from another athlete3-4. Studies

The epidemic of concussions I football have only started to become worse when finally, technology is advanced enough to correlate the relationship between the two. It has even become more apparent that not only the effects it has on someone short term, but the long-term effects are significantly worse. In some cases, concussions not have only effected the player but the people around them as well. What needs to be addressed is, how can concussions caused by football be limited, or what can be done medically to reduce the side effects, both short and long term.

Concussions in sports have always been the main injury for athletes, and sometimes those concussions are career ending. For years concussions were known as getting your bell rung and not much was thought about the damage that a direct head injury could have on the athlete. In the past several years, doctors and athletic trainers have come to better understand concussions and how easily they occur, even though they still do not know everything. A concussion is defined as a type of traumatic brain injury caused by a blow to the head or body, a fall, or another injury that jars or shakes the brain inside the skull. The top sports where concussions occur are men and women’s soccer, lacrosse, men’s wrestling, women’s basketball, football, and men’s ice hockey. Although football is the leading cause of concussion in children and adult athletes with 76.8 percent of athletes sustaining a concussion at some point in their career, ice hockey falls into second with 54 percent of athletes experiencing a concussion. There are many reasons why athletes who participate in ice hockey incur concussions, especially at young ages. Several factors include deliberate head shots, kids hitting their heads off the ice when they fall, getting punched or slashed in the head, and the most common reason is the improper use of mouth guards and helmets. If helmets and mouth guards are properly fitted and used, players follow league rules and regulations fully, and attend concussion prevention classes

Sports are played all over the world. From kids as young as 3 years old just learning the basics of a sport, to the well rounded college and professional athletes, sports are played almost everywhere in the world. With sports, though, come the risk of concussions. What is a concussion?  “A concussion is a traumatic injury to the brain that temporarily disrupts its normal function.” (Brzycki). As simple as that may sound, concussions are very serious. Concussions can cause many serious and severe short and long term issues. In the past few years, there has been a growing concern about sports related concussions. There has also been a growing concern about coaches, trainers, and athletes awareness about concussions and the serious consequences that they may bring. That may leave some to wonder if their son or daughter's coaches are up to date with current concussion education and awareness.

Concussions have increasingly taken over the great game of football. According to Seifert, “Diagnosed concussions have increased by 32 percent since last season.” With the recent increase in concussions the everlasting problem of head injuries is now being investigated in full gear. The National Football League’s main focus today is trying to find ways to better protect players head and neck area. Over time concussions have impacted the National Football League drastically as new helmets are being used, new rules are being put in place, and there are concerns about the future of football.

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.