Why are head to head collisions a big deal?
A lot of people don’t understand the severity of a head injury. In a new study showing that head impacts among second grade football players are sometimes as severe as those seen at the college level, the national president of Pop Warner said he will propose a rule that, for the first time, would limit the amount of contact allowed in practices. While football is a very fun sport to participate in and to watch, it is very dangerous. Head collisions are extremely dangerous and can give people concussions or even worse, lead to worse injuries. We should do more in order to ensure that these accidents don’t happen and prevent them. There was a discovery in a twenty one year old that had never been diagnosed with a concussion. CTE which is Chronic Traumatic Encephalophay is a brain disease that can be caused by multiple hits to the head. This disease is linked to depression, impulse-control problems, memory loss, and
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dementia. A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury.
The brain is made of soft tissue and is cushioned by spinal fluid. It is encased in the hard, protective skull. The brain can move around inside the skull and even bang against it. If the brain hits against the skull for example, due to a fall on the field or court or a whiplash type of injury the blood vessels can be torn and the nerves inside the brain can be injured. These injuries can cause a concussion. The term concussion might make you think of someone knocked unconscious while playing sports. But, concussions can be temporary disruptions of brain functions with any head injury, often without a loss of consciousness. Anyone who has a head injury should be watched very closely for signs of a concussion, even if the person feels alright at the time or even a little bit after. An undiagnosed concussion can put someone at risk for brain damage and even a disability. So anyone who has any symptom of a concussion should be examined right away by a
doctor. According to the online source on NCBI Bookshelf in soccer the athlete’s repetitive head impacts due to the fact of heading the ball for passing or shooting. One study of thirty seven former professional soccer players found mild to severe deficits in the areas of attention, concentration, memory, and judgment in eighty one percent of the players. The author also found brain damage from repetitively heading the ball! In another study of fifty three active professional soccer players have impairments in memory and planning. Several other studies have found, including more recent ones involving youth soccer players have found no effect on heading the ball. Football is the same way. Look at Ex NFL player Sean Morey. Sean suffers from post-concussion syndrome. Take a look inside look Sean’s medicine cabinet, and you'll find the bottles of pills that he takes to lessen the effects of the brain injury he sustained playing football. Propranolol to help with debilitating headaches, Lexapro an anti-depressant, to as Sean puts it "lengthen my fuse", Ritalin to help him focus, and Trazodone to help him sleep. Hundreds of other NFL players have been diagnosed with far more serious conditions: dementia, ALS, Parkinson's and severe cognitive decline. As you can see after so many hits they start to add up and can leave long lasting effects on your brain. We can and we must develop a brain trauma guidelines similar to the pitch count regulations now used in little league baseball. For pitchers in baseball they count the pitches to ensure that a small number do not develop shoulder or elbow problems. So why don’t we count how often children get hit in the head playing football? There are also questions about helmets. They are designed to prevent skull fractures not concussions. Some minor changes you could have is have doctor or medical trainers who understand the injury, use standardized concussion tests to see if the player is able to return to the game, they need to ease injured athletes back into the game and practice and not let them go full speed as soon as they get back, they also need to monitor the athlete for a very good period of time to see if any type of symptoms come back to the child after returning to play. The organization is pondering a future requirement for annual brain scans for athletes to identify young athletes who may be at risk for brain injuries. There are many ways to make contact sports safer; we just need to do it! In conclusions head to head contact or concussions should not be taken lightly! All children with a head injury or symptoms of a concussion such as headache, loss of vision, seeing double, nausea, vomiting, blacking out, confusion, memory loss, they should see a doctor immediately! They should not return to play until a doctor has cleared them for release and should be watched/monitored for a long period of time to ensure the symptoms do not return!
The average NFL player takes up to 1,000 blows to the head throughout their football career. Some of those blows can have the force of a sledgehammer (“RealNatural”). Based on a research study by Dr. Jesse David, there were 265 concussions reported in the 2012 season, during the 2011 season there were 266 concussions, and 270 concussions in 2010 season (Kacsmar). It has been known that repeated blows to the head can cause long-term brain damage since at least the 1950’s, long before most of the NFL players had begun their careers (“RealNatural”). Past infractions of the NFL have already resulted in over 4,500 forme...
Concussions are an injury to the brain caused by bump, or blow to the head or body. They can occur even when you haven’t even been knocked unconscious. Concussions can not be seen, but you can notice when someone has received one. (Center for Disease Control). The symptoms are Headaches, nausea, vomiting, balance problems, blurry vision, and memory problems or confusion. Also difficulty paying attention, bothered by lights or loud noises and feeling sluggish are sure symptoms of a concussion. (CDC 2). Even though concussions can’t be fully prevented, scientists are doing their best to find ways to decrease the amount of concussions that happen per year.
A. Background In recent years, there has been an increase in research investigating the long-term effects of repeated head trauma on the brain, especially in athletes. Following his discovery of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), Dr. Bennet Omalu inspired a movement of research aimed at establishing better safety standards and protocols in football. It was not until 2002 that the initial connection between repetitive head trauma, such as concussions, and brain injury was suspected (Ott, 2015). As common as concussions were during the late 1970s and 1980s, they were often swept under the rug, as they were seen as insignificant injuries.
Concussions have become arguably the #1 most prevalent issue in football today. The number of concussions throughout football has been rising for the past 20-30 years and there seems no way of stopping them. However, the NFL and many private researchers are set on finding a way to conquer this issue. They want to stop these concussions from happening and prevent the diseases resulting from them that have ruined so many football families’ lives. In order to solve this problem, I think that these researchers need to combine all of their knowledge to solve an issue that so many want solved. As soon as we conquer this “illness” we can return to enjoying the game that we love.
Even though the devastation of concussions is just rising to the surface, they have always been around. In 1994, the NFL started a committee called the MTBI (Mild Traumatic Brain Injury). Dr. Elliot Pellman was appointed as chair, and he was quoted saying, “We think the issue of knees, of drugs and steroids and drinking is a far greater problem, according to the number of incidents” (Ezell). This quote shows how concussions did not hold much importance, even though it should have been the committee's main focus. This is ironic, because in today’s sport world concussions are a highly talked about topic. They hold such significance that some rules are even being changed to lower the risk for players.
A concussion is a temporary loss of normal brain function, and can be described in three different ways: mild, moderate, or severe (Schafer). The worse one’s concussion is, the more dangerous the effects of it are. People usually get a concussion when they are playing high intensity sports. There are other things that could cause a concussion. One might have been in a motor vehicle accident, or they could have done something as simple as falling and hitting their head. Every time a person receives a blow to the head they damage their brain. It is hard to tell how much damage one has done to their brain, because doctors cannot see it from the outside of their brain (Haas).
Football is America’s favorite sport. It is a fast-paced, hard-hitting game. Every week thousands of men and boys all across the country take part in football and every week these men and boys receive violent hits during the game. Frequently, as a result of these violent hits, the player receives a concussion. However, the long-term effects of concussions on players are not fully understood. New research shows that even a slight concussion in a football game can have lasting effects on a player. As a result of this research, children under the age of fourteen should not play tackle football.
A concussion may be caused by a blow, bump, or jolt to the head or by any fall or hit that jars the brain. A concussion causes the brain to work longer and harder. A concussion affects the mental stamina and function of the brain. Even though concussions are very serious and potentially life threatening to the young athlete, studies show that less than 50% of high school athletes will report their concussions. Almost all athletes
A concussion is a head injury that can have damaging effects on athletes of all sports and ages. Concussions are regularly caused by a hard hit to the head or body that causes the brain to shake inside the skull. While there is fluid within the skull to protect the brain, when an athlete is hit hard enough, the brain moves to the point of hitting the skull, causing a head injury otherwise known as a concussion (“Concussions”). Terry Adirim, a medical doctor who writes articles for Clinical Pediatrician Emergency Magazine, says that an individual may have many different symptoms after receiving a concussion. Symptoms can include headache, nausea, dizziness, loss of consciousness, and vomiting, but each of these symptoms do not necessarily happen with every concussion.
"A concussion is a type of brain injury. It 's the most minor form. Technically, a concussion is ashore loss of brain function in response to a head injury” (Concussion). Concussions are the least severe of all brain injuries. In addition, a concussion is a temporary loss of brain function because of the impact to the head. This injury could happen anywhere all that would be needed is an impact to the head. More often than not, people think that concussion only happen in sports. However, these injuries could occur in real life situations such as: "A concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), often sustained in sports, falls, motor vehicle accidents, assault, and other incidents. Concussion cannot be seen on CT or MRI scans, but it’s a very real brain injury” (Cornell). Concussions are a moderately traumatic brain injury. This injury often happens during sports, falling, and car accidents.
Concussions are an injury that falls under the Traumatic Brain Injury category. A concussion occurs when a force causes the brain to rock back and forth inside the skull, and hit the interior walls of the skull. When this happens it can result in bruising on two parts of the brain, the Coup and the Countercoup. This may result in Loss of consciousness, confusion, headaches, nausea or vomiting, blurred vision, and loss of short-term memory. I know from experience the nausea and blurred vision. I noticed that during what I thought was a concussion though after the initial hits my ears would ring and give me very painful headaches.
Mike Webster, legendary Pittsburgh Steeler was once asked if he has ever been in a car crash and his answer was “yea about 25,000 times or so”(Fainaru-Wada 3). This is just a glimpse of the life of football players that are messed up due to the constant and harsh hits and blows to the head. By the the way Mike Webster died at the age of 50 because of brain injuries and complications. I'm not saying football is a bad sport because of this in fact I love football more than a lot of things but it is a problem none the less. Lowering the number of concussions is important because it impacts the players mentally, socially, and physically.
First, we observe that in order for a concussion to occur, a rapid change in the motion of the skull must also occur within a short amount of time. This results in the brain (which tends to remain in a constant state of motion) colliding with the inside of the skull as the skull begins to change its state of motion. This causes compressional force on the cerebrum resulting in brain injury.
How do concussions affect the human brain? In order to know what affects the concussions does to the brain, we must first know what exactly a concussion is. A concussion a concussion is described as a complex pathophysiological process that affects the brain in the act of severe head trauma. Think of the brain as the yoke inside an egg, if the egg is shaken, the yoke will be obscured. This is exactly what a concussion is like. A concussion affects the brain in several ways, including physical, emotional, and cognitive. There are also long-term effects like increased risk for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s (“Concussion Treatment”).
Should the fear of brain trauma, change the rules of sports for good? Athletes have been susceptible for brain injuries since contact sports were invented. Although some are familiar with this, many people are unaware of the long term ramifications that often come with these types of injuries. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, (ALS) is a disease that is slowly plaguing our nation, starting with athletes. It is one of the fatal repercussions of repetitive head trauma, that is often overlooked. CTE, also known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is also a disease caused by head trauma that can drastically impact one’s life. CTE’s have a subset of different associated diseases such as Alzheimer's, Dementia, Parkinsons, and Huntingtons disease.