Get Your Head in the Game...The Urgency of Concussions
It’s the last game of the season 1 minute left in the fourth quarter. You have the football in your hands; you weave in and out of defenders trying to score and BANG… You get tackled and slammed to the ground causing you to bounce your helmet off of the hard turf. You're slow to get up and you’re coach pulls you out for a play to check to see if you’re ok. You tell him you’re good that you simply just “got your bell rung”; you tell him that your team needs you. He questions the decision, but he tells you to strap your helmet back on and get out there. The next play you feel sluggish but you play through it, the quarterback snaps the ball and hands it off to you, running straight through
…show more content…
A concussion is a mild head injury which is sustained by a jolt or impact to one's head. “Concussions can be caused by a variety of traumatic events: motor vehicle accidents, penetrating injuries, sports injuries, strikes, and falls”(Schafer, 2014). Side effects of concussions range from clumsiness. slurred speech, nausea or vomiting, headache, balance problems or dizziness, blurred vision, sensitivity to light and noise, sluggishness, ringing in the ears, personality changes, difficulty concentrating and memory loss. A concussion is similar to a bruise on an arm or leg but instead the bruise is on the tissues of the brain. Since people can’t see the damage of the injury to the brain many concussions go undiagnosed or untreated for days weeks or even years. When a concussion goes undiagnosed or untreated it can result in further head trauma: untreated it can lead to blood clots and tumors in the brain, an onset of parkinson’s disease and in worst cases death. However it wasn't until 2011 that the issue of concussions went into the public spotlight.
In 2011, the issue of concussions in professional sports spilled over into both the political arena and popular culture. In March of that year, a US congresswoman called upon the House Judiciary Committee to organize hearings on concussions and head injuries in professional sports. The committee previously
…show more content…
Something as simple as a specially designed helmet can prevent a concussion from occurring. “ While helmets have been used since the early 1900s in the NFL, they were not mandatory until 1943. Since then, the materials, designs, and safety standards have undergone revision, and more recent modifications have focused on improving the design to further protect the athlete specifically from concussive impacts”(Navarro, 2011). The helmets used in the past to protect athletes were not designed purely in mind of protecting athletes from concussions; helmets and equipment are now being revised and redesigned in the focus of protecting athletes from concussions whenever any sort of contact happens to the athletes cranium. “Biomechanical studies have shown that newer football helmets may reduce the impact forces associated with a sport-related concussion” (Navarro, par 2). Along with the creation of new equipment new rules should be adopted which require athletes to wear proper and up to date equipment, such as helmets and mouthguards which protect the athletes head during any circumstance of possible injury; whether during a practice or
A concussion is medically defined by a traumatic injury to the brain. An athlete that has a concussion may experience signs of confusion, may lose consciousness, disorientation, or have a dazed look. Concussions occur due to an impact with the ground or another player. The skull is stopped by the impact, but the brain continues to move inside the skull in a shaking or spinning manner. Medical experts state that, “Violent shaking caused the brain cells to become depolarized and fire all their neurotransmitters at once in an unhealthy cascade, flooding the brain
A concussion is a type of TBI that is caused from an impact to the head or from a jolt of the head which can be caused by a fall. A person receives a concussion when the brain hits the side of the inner skull due to the blow. This causes the brain to become more sensitive to some aspects of life. There are three different levels of a concussion mild, moderate, and severe. All three of these forms all have different symptoms (although some overlap) and different lengths of recovery.
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
Concussions are a very frightening and dangerous injury. A concussion is a traumatic brain injury in which your brain rattles around in your skull. When you sustain a concussion, your brain may jolt as a result from the impact. This form of brain injury can cause bruising, damage to the blood vessels, and injury to the nerves. Concussions are the most common brain injury. Although concussions are the least serious, they should not be taken lightly. Back in the day, people were unaware of concussions and the symptoms associated with them. As a result, people today especially former athletes are dying from past concussions. (Cantu, R. & Hyman M., 2012) Many people have seen, heard of, or had a concussion and they are relevant to everyone’s life.
Think about this, “how many people have had a concussion this year?” Probably more than one can count on one hand. On average there is close to 2.5 million concussions in the US that are caused by sports or recreational activities. In high school sports alone, “High school athletes are three times more likely to sustain catastrophic injuries than those people in college” (Gorgens.) Getting a concussions does not only cause physical pain, it can cause mental problems. There needs to be more precautions taken in protecting the players.
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.
A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury (TBI) that results from a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or body that causes the head to move quickly. The sudden movement can cause the brain to move in the skull. This movement can result in stretching and damaging the brain cells and create chemical changes in the brain. A young brain may more susceptible to the chemical changes that occur in the brain after a concussion. These changes may lead symptoms that affect their cognitive, physical, emotional, and sleep functions. While concussions affect people differently, most people will have symptoms that last for a few days to a week. More serious concussions may last for weeks, months or even longer. (Davies,
A concussion is a very serious blow to the head; it can affect you and your health as you age.There are many symptoms to a concussion, and some are passing out, a migraine (which is a very serious headache) ,a bump on the head, and memory loss. If a person gets many concussions, they will get a disease called CTE, which stands for chronic traumatic encephalopathy. CTE is a brain disease that can cause a person to commit suicide or short/long term memory loss.
Concussions are are serious medical issue that teens and young adult are suffering from. There are over 300,000 sports related concussions in the United States each year. A concussion is described by the American Acadmey of Neurology as a trauma induced alteration in mental statues that may or may not result in loss of consciousness. This means that the person has sustained a blow to the head, face or neck, that has caused a sudden jolt of the head. Concussions can lead to headaches, dizziness, blurred vision or mood swings. The effects of a concussion can affect a person life or 30 or more years.
One company is attempting to generate a new helmet meant just for that. “‘Current helmets were never intended to deal with concussion,’” explained Browd, chief medical officer of VICIS. “‘To take a product that is built for one purpose and to try to retrofit it to address concussion is a very challenging task’” (Tracy). This new helmet would have columns on the inside that would bend and absorb the force in order to protect the head, but this helmet will not completely take away the risks of concussions. Another way to change how football is played is to put rules into effect that will discourage head to head contact between players, which the NFL is already beginning to organize. “The reworded rules prohibit a player from launching himself off the ground and using his helmet to strike a player in a defenseless posture in the head or neck. The old rule only applied to receivers getting hit, but now it will apply to everyone” (NFL). The new rules talk about protecting defenseless players, but non-defenseless players, like a running back charging upfield, can be struck in the head. The rules have been improved, but there can be more beneficial adjustments. The breaks given to players should be longer as well. John Urschel explained his thoughts about this on the ESPN talk show “Mike & Mike” "‘I think (my concussion) hurt my ability to
According to SCI, a concussion is defined as a complex pathophysiological process that affects the brain (SCI, 2016). A concussion is commonly known as a mild traumatic brain injury, often sustained in sports, falls, motor vehicle accidents, assault, and other incidents (Cornell, 2015). A blow or jolt to the head that disrupts the normal function of the brain (Brainline, 2015).
A concussion is a type of mild to moderate brain injury caused by sudden hit to the head. This sudden blow can cause the brain to bounce around or twist in the skull which damages brain cells and causes chemical changes in the brain. Some symptoms of a concussion include “blurred or double vision, seeing stars, sensitivity to light or noise, headache, dizziness or balance problems, nausea, vomiting, trouble sleeping, fatigue, confusion, difficulty remembering, difficulty concentrating, or loss of consciousness”. It is important to note that you do not need to be knocked unconscious to have a concussion. Concussions cause damage to the frontal and anterior temporal lobes which are the very place where one’s emotions and self-control are located. Some concussion victims claim to experience loss of
Concussions are positively correlated with direct contact and head on collisions within contact sports. Throughout the years, this issue has been addressed more frequently, especially in football. In fact, “... the National Football League came under fire last year for the harrowing long-term effects of head injuries among many of its former players…” (Sanders) In response, the National Football League’s commissioner “ordered every NFL team to adhere to new policies involving concussion management and said that players cannot return to play until a physician clears them.” (Sanders) This was a controversial move because this means that key players may not be able to return if under the effects of a head injury; however, Sanders goes onto explain how brain injuries can not only
Another popular explanation states that the increased awareness and education on TBI has led to increased reporting by athletes, coaches, and parents (Bakhos et al., 2010), a theory confounded by Kilcoyne et al. (2014). The concussion recognition guidelines mandated by the NCAA resulted in a doubling of the incidence of concussion in collegiate level athletes, suggesting that the increased interest and education on head injuries in sports can cause an increase in incidence of concussion, simply due to the fact that it is recognized, reported and diagnosed more
A concussion is a traumatic brain injury that is cause by a blow to the head or body, fall or any other injury that jars or shakes the brain inside the skull. Usually, a concussion commonly occurs in fights, playground injuries, or car and bike accidents. However, they can also occur in sport activities such as football, soccer, boxing, and hockey. When a concussion does occur, there is a big verity of symptoms and signs that can help detect a concussion after an injury. Also, some symptoms and signs can take time to appear.