Persuasive Essay On Concussions

Concussions

Sports have been around since the beginning of mankind. As a result, so have injuries, including concussions. Concussions have been a part of sports ever since the beginning. But recently concussions have become a focal point for coaches, athletes, and parents. Just in case you were ever confused on what a concussion is, “A concussion is when a person’s brain suddenly shifts or shakes inside the skull and can knock against the skull’s surface … causing bruising” (Liberty). The problem that parents, coaches, and athletes are so worried about right now is that studies have shown that more than 80 percent of concussions go unreported or undiagnosed (Vox). A result of unreported or undiagnosed concussions is that the players who

are now concussed can now return to play, which is a huge issue concerning an athlete’s mental health. A new study has shown that a person diagnosed with a concussion can have “increased risk of developing certain mental disorders like schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder by up to 439 percent”(Sciencenordic). Mental health issues are most widely displayed on the professional level with many retired football players having shown signs of traumatic brain injuries and sometimes even die from the brain injuries. For example Mike Webster, the center for the Pittsburg Steelers for 17 seasons, “died from a heart attack from a crippling neurodegenerative disease thought to be linked to the thousands of hits to the head” (LA Times). Mike was later diagnosed with amnesia dementia and depression from chronic traumatic encephalopathy a neurodegenerative disease. A disease was the reason for some of his drastic emotional outbursts.
But it’s not only undiagnosed concussions that is concerning. Players returning to the playing field to early is another concern. Players returning to the playing field early has also been seen many times in the professional sports arenas where a player coming off the injured list from a concussion enters the game just to receive another concussion soon after. Recently this happening was when the Broncos wide receiver, Wes Welker, received two concussions within four weeks. You may ask yourself, why are so many concussed players going undiagnosed or being cleared for play too early? In this essay, I will explore the causes of underreported of concussions that involves uneducated athletes, the athlete’s mentality and the lack of athletic trainers. I will also cover reasons why players are returning to play to early which includes unreliable testing, misjudging the severity of a concussion and how the lack of athletic trainers can be tied to players returning to the playing field to early.
Concussions range from mild to severe. Athletes in all sports are prone to concussions. But in the United States concussions have been more often related to college and professional football. Playing with a concussions can be very detrimental to your mental health. If an athlete were to play after getting a concussion, it could be very detrimental to their health. This could be dangerous for the athlete because having a head damaging impact while already having a concussion would cause the concussion to worsen. But with concussions being such a focus in the sports world, why are so many still going undiagnosed? One of the largest reason that concussions go undiagnosed is that many athletes are uneducated on the symptoms and the severity of concussions. Many athletes do not know all of the symptoms that are caused by concussions. Many players believe that the only sign from a concussion is losing consciousness. And just a few years ago the only way a person would be diagnosed with a concussion would be if they lost consciousness out on the field. But it has come to the attention of scientists that people do not have to lose consciousness to have a concussion. In fact most of the time players do not black out. Most of the time an athlete will experience other symptoms of a concussion like a headache or dizziness. If athletes and coaches know the symptoms of a concussion it could be more easily spotted. Just a few known symptoms of concussions includes “headaches that worsen, neck pain, unusual behavior, looks drowsy, repeating vomiting and slurred speech” (concussion). These are just a few of the symptoms. Some of these symptoms are not easily detected by the inattentive eye which makes concussions that much harder to detect.
Another reason many concussions go undiagnosed is the athlete’s mentality (NY times). Throughout an athlete’s life, injuries are a part of the game and many times they are encouraged to play through them. Coaches often looked over small injuries. I cannot even count how many times a coach has told me to rub some dirt on it and continue to play. This determination created this athletic mindset that makes the individual think they cannot let their team or their coaches down. So they continue to play. Many players have been known to play through concussions because they do not want to miss the game. They are unaware of the side effects that can arise by doing this.
Concussions have also brought attention to the lack of athletic trainers. Many schools now have athletic trainers but there are still some schools in the US that do not employ athletic trainers. As described by the National Athletic Trainers Association “only 55 percent of athletes at public secondary schools have access to a full time athletic trainer” (National). Even for the schools that do have athletic trainers, they are most of the time under employed only having one certified athletic trainer for a large school. This may not sound like a problem but one person spread across a dozen sports, injuries are bound to go unnoticed. It is important to have athletic trainers on a field at all times for practices and games because they are the first ones at the scene with the ability to judge the severity of the injury in question.
Now that we discussed undiagnosed concussions we can move forward to players that are cleared to early and can return to play. The problem is that it is extremely difficult to determine the severity of a concussion. This makes determining a time that an athlete can return to play even harder. The severity of a concussion can go misjudged because there is no full proof way of detecting a concussion. Even CT scans cannot detect one hundred percent of concussions. As Dr. Kevin Guskiewicz states “a concussion is a difficult injury to diagnose. X-rays and other imaging of the brain often cannot detect signs of a concussion” (nap.edu). This is why athletic trainers have to rely on symptoms, neurological, and cognitive tests to judge the severity of the concussion. But if a player were to return to play too early because their concussion severity was misjudged they might be susceptible to another concussion or worsening the one they already have. There have been cases of concussions as severe as having a player rely on an independent note taker and taking Ritalin for wandering attention (The New York Times). The athletic trainers use the symptoms to identify a possible concussed player then uses one or both of the cognitive and neurological tests. Neurological testing is the more widely used test because it can be performed anywhere. Because it does not require any equipment it is favored over the cognitive test because the athletic trainer can test athletes on the sideline. This test consists of questions like what day is it, and what is your name, answers that should be generally known. Athletes often have trouble determining where they are and what they are doing when they suffer from a concussion. Neurological testing also involves the possible concussed athlete to follow the finger of the person giving the test to look for irregular eye movements like eyes twitching and dilated pupils. Then there is the cognitive testing which is least used because you need a computer to perform the test. This test consists of memorization and patterns. A player will look at a set of numbers on the screen for a set amount of time. Once time runs out they will be asked to repeat the numbers. The athlete will take a baseline test before any contact or exercise activity. Then later, if that athlete were under suspicion of a concussion, the test would be performed again. If the player scores lower than the baseline test they would be considered concussed. One again, the lack of athletic trainers is a huge contributing factor as to how early athletes return to play. When there isn’t enough athletic trainers injuries such as concussions can go unnoticed. This is because when a school only has one athletic trainer they aren’t always at practices where many concussions occur As described earlier, athletic trainers are the first ones on the scene and try to provide the best diagnosis possible. Without athletic trainers, the athletes are at a disadvantage. This leaves the decision of a concussion up to the coaches, parents and the players. And when a coach is trying to manage a game it is not always apparent when or if an athlete becomes concussed.
I believe that concussions could be greatly minimized by just a few steps.

First coaches, players, and parents need to be educated about concussions. This education should include information about symptoms, long lasting effects and the consequences of concussions going unreported. This will help because players can not only evaluate themselves but their fellow teammates. When athletes know the consequences of not reporting a concussion it will ensure that players will report their worries about being concussed with their coaches or athletic trainers. The negative reinforcements is not to punish the players for getting the concussion but knowingly playing while having one. By Negative reinforcements I mean the athletes would punished by being suspended the season for playing while knowingly having a concussion .Another way to reduce concussions would be to have the players with concussions or concerns about being concussed, to undergo both the neurological testing and the cognitive testing. This will take more time and will take away from the athletes playing on the field but it will be much more beneficial in the end. And players would not return to play until they pass both tests. This would help because neither test is perfect by itself at detecting a concussion but both used together would help overlap each other allowing concussions to be better detected. This would not be favorite option because the cognitive testing involves computers, making it harder for some organizations. But in the interests of keeping concussed players off of the field it will be

beneficial.
Sports is a growing culture in the United States. People will always be playing sports and because of this injuries like concussions will always be around. There is no possible way of eliminating concussions without changing each sport completely. That is why concussions need to be better evaluated to keep every athlete safe. Concussions can be dangerous and can be seen in athletes as they age. Many professional football players have died at early ages and suffered from traumatic brain injuries from the repetition of concussions. Undiagnosed concussions and players returning to play too early are still issues that face today. But that can change with just a few minor adjustments to how we educate and detect concussions.