Sports Related Concussions

Do you really know the effect that a concussion has on your body and brain? “In the US sports related concussions occur between 1.6 and 3.8 million times per year, making them the leading cause of mild traumatic brain injury.”(7) Many people think that taking time to heal after a concussion is not important and you can just go back on the court or field that same day. Concussions are a major problem in the sport of football and need to be taken very seriously.
A concussion is simply a brain injury. Concussions are not only caused by a blow to the head, but also by getting hit in the body. “Your brain is rapidly growing until you are 25 causing concussions before that age to do a lot of damage.”(3) Concussions do not only give you physical symptoms
In 2012 through 2014 NFL regular season (week one through sixteen), there were a total of 292 reported concussions.”(7)Delaney, J Scott et al. "The effect of protective headgear on head injuries and concussions in adolescent football (soccer) players." “The amount of pressure is immense,” says Wheatley, now director of the Dallas Cowboys football Academy “ I did what I had to do. I play with a broken foot, broken wrist, concussion. I didn't want to lose my spot to another player.”(2) “Many players will just ‘shake it off’ or play through the dizziness and nausea.”(2) If players continue to play through the symptoms they can develop Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy also known as CTE. CTE is a degenerative disease found in the brains of many athletes. “Recently the department of Veterans Affairs and Boston University researchers studied the brains of 165 people who play football in high school, college or pro level. The teams found CTE in 130 of them. Of the brains studied 91 of them belong to former NFL players, 87 of those 91 had signs of
“Wearing the correct protective gear not only in games, but in practice, not purposely hitting anyone on the head, and educating yourself on what a concussion is, what it feels like in what to do when you get one are all simple solutions.”(3) Other solutions suggest changes in the rules of the game. “These suggestions include booting the kickoff, everybody standing and banding youth tackle. Neuro injury rate is highest in kickoffs, by taking them away, hopefully the rate will begin to decrease. If the NFL eliminated the kick off colleges and high schools would follow. “Taking kickoffs out of the game would be a huge progressive reform.” “Everybody standing” means that the three point and four point stance would be eliminated. Lineman stand on the line heads pointed at each other's heads and at the snap they instantly collide. If players did not have to keep their hands on the ground, heads would be up at the snap and the chance of getting a concussion would be slimmer. “Boston university studies show that aging players who began playing full-pads tackle football before age twelve ‘performed significantly worse’ on tests of mental acuity than those who waited till after the age of twelve to play tackle football.” About one third of deceased men who played contact sports in youth had CTE. Some communities have already started replacing youth tackle with flag football, which offers all the fun without the