...Introduction Sports-related head injuries have received significantly more attention over the past few years; the effects of repeated concussions have been demonstrated in a number of high-profile athletes. With multimillion dollars and careers at stake, professional athletic associations have supported the implementation of preseason baseline testing and neuropsychological evaluation to assist in return-to-play decision making and to assess the cognitive sequelae of concussive head injuries. Such comprehensive programs are infiltrating college athletics and most recently have begun to manifest themselves in high school athletics. It is clear that mild head injury is a growing concern in the popular high school contact sports. Statement of Purpose...
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...Every year, roughly 1.6 to 3.8 million athletes in the United States alone suffer from a concussion (“13 Things You”). But, almost half of these concussions are not reported and therefore not treated (“13 Things You”). Of all sports contributing to the concussion total, football is by far the main contributor. “High school football accounts for 47% of all reported sports concussions, while 33% of these concussions occur during practice,” (“Head Case - Complete”). The main reason for this could be improper technique and teaching, neglect, and other factors. But for these players, high school is followed by college and possibly the National Football League (NFL), where concussions get much more attention and criticism. Concussions in the NFL...
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...repetition saying, “play through the discomfort and pain, it sucks not but it will pay off in the end.” Many athletes are taught that sports are all about fighting through struggles; if that task cannot be completed then they are not resilient enough for sports. “Despite the NFL’s best efforts, however, football is an extremely physical and violent game, in which concussions and head injuries are inevitable. Players continue to hide concussion symptoms from coaches and trainers to avoid being taken out of a highly contested game and possibly even losing their starting positions permanently” (Drysdale 427). In the long run it is better to address the injury right away instead of trying to stay in the game. It would be most beneficial to sit out the few games required for recovery, than to play and worsen the injury. NFL players did what any athlete would do and stay in the game, regarding whatever their condition was. They did this to avoid the disappointment their teammates might see in them, but also the satisfaction they would get when...
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...Concussions in Football Paul Kowalczyk Lakeside High School 5th Period In this paper I am going to be talking about concussions in Football. I wanted to research this topic because I did not know how easy it is to get a concussion in sports. I also chose this topic because it can relate to the news today. The National Football League has just recently passed a rule that fines any player that tackles another player and creates head-to-head contact. I really wanted to know more about this new rule, and how this is going to affect the game. A concussion is a mild brain injury that happens when the brain quickly moves back and forth in the skull. Concussions are a short loss of normal brain function that is usually caused by sports injuries or by a blow to the head. American Football is one of the easiest ways to receive a concussion. Even though the players wear helmets they can still get a concussion. Researchers have found that out of 17,549 college football players, 888 players have received concussions and out of those 888 players 131 received another concussion that same season. Researchers at Virginia Tech, using sensors attached to the helmet of a college player, recorded more than 3,300 hits to the head during 10 games and 35 practice sessions in 2003 (Kuwana, 2004). They found that players receive an average of 50 hits to the head every game, and with an average force of 40 times...
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...It is predicted that sportsmen who are diagnosed with concussion more than once will be exposed to long term effects of concussion, such as decreased activity in the primary motor cortex resulting in a slower reaction time. Introduction: The brain is an organ that serves as the centre of the nervous system in all humans. The brain is located in the head, encased in a skull usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. The brain is the most complex organ in the body of most living organisms. In a human, the cerebral cortex contains approximately 15–33 billion neurons, each connected by synapses to several thousand other neurons. These neurons allow the brain to send messages throughout the body actions such as movement. Structures...
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...Concussions are a problem that almost all the athletes in contact sports experience. The contact sports such as football, hockey, and boxing expose the players to the concussions. They usually refer to the concussions as “Seeing lights” or “Hearing bells”. Football is the main cause for concussions which are reported annually. However, only a few cases are reported with extremely few of the patients being treated. The rise in the concussion cases in sports has a deep effect on athletes and should be assessed for safety and scientific research. The collisions during competitions are closely linked to the symptoms of concussion, which the players experience. Soccer players are monitored closely as they experience most of the collisions. They...
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...Occupational Safety and Health Case Study Draft Introduction Concussions have casted a dark shadow over sports throughout the last decade. They are the most common head and brain injuries suffered by athletes. A concussion is “a type of traumatic brain injury that is caused by a blow to the head or body, a fall, or another injury that jars or shakes the brain inside the skull” ("Concussion - WebMD: Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention"). The major problem regarding concussions is that they are not visible to the human eye. Concussions occur all the way from Pop Warner leagues as a child to the professional leagues. My friend has played football his whole life. Unfortunately, he has been plagued by concussions ever since he started to play the sport. He is a prime example of an ordinary kid who plays a sport he loves, but has altered his future forever. Commissioners are actively trying to reduce the number of head injuries that occur while playing. However, the main problem regarding head injuries in sports is that players tend to rush back to their respective sports, without proper testing and treatment. This results in athletes risking their playing careers, a life filled with long-term head complications, and eventually putting their lives in danger. As an injured athlete, there comes a point where you have to ask yourself, is rushing back to the game really worth a lifetime filled with head injuries and complications? So what do team doctors need...
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...Running head: CONCUSSIONS IN SPORTS 1 Concussions In Sports Robert Hayes DeVry University CONCUSSIONS IN SPORTS 2 In todays society the sporting world plays some kind of role in all of our lives whether we realize it or not. Some of us may say that “I never watch sports” or “I’m not really a fan of sports,” could be true. One thing I can guarantee is that you have a family member, neighbor, friend, or co-worker that has some kind of affiliation with sports, it could be the clothing that we wear or that some else is wearing, maybe the accessories you see people wearing when you go out, or just could be a commercial you have seen on television. Wherever you are in the United States I can guarantee that you have some kind of affiliation with some kind of sport. As of the year 2013 studies show that “sixty percent of our children between the ages of five years of age and eighteen years of age play some kind of sport outside of school activities”, and if you think about how much sixty percent of our child population in the United States is, that is a lot of kids. Now think about how many of those parents think about there children having the potential for a brain traumatic injury, I would guess that statistic is probably quite a bit lower than ten percent, no study to my knowledge has been done for this. So I am writing this paper to make parents aware of what is currently...
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...You’ve played sports all your life. Now, because of one injury, the only thing you’ve ever known is being torn away from you. I know how frustrating this is for you. I, too, have gone through this exact scenario recently. After experiencing an overwhelming failure or obstacle, you can struggle to find any positive outcomes; however, time has shown that adversities are coupled with something beneficial. Two years ago, I suffered my fifth concussion in about a two-year period. My career in sports or even gym class was 100% over for the rest of my life. I was feeling a lot of emotions you probably are feeling right now as well. Lost, angry, frustrated, and distressed, these emotions coursed through my veins. Although I wasn’t anything spectacular in sports, it had become a part of my identity over the past 14 years. Not only were my extracurriculars changed forever, but, because of my injuries, my academic career would never be the same. I was always a good student: I got good grades, took effective notes, and always did my homework. All of this used to come to me with ease. Now, however, every waking second of every day was accompanied with pain. Headaches, dizziness, and nausea became a part of my daily school routine. This made my classes increasingly more difficult, and I didn’t know what to do. Isn’t everything supposed to happen...
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...Concussion “Concussion is the sudden but short-lived loss of mental function that occurs after a blow or other injury to the head. It is the most common but least serious type of brain injury.” (NHS UK, 2014) A concussion can occur when something/someone comes in contact with the head leading the brain to hit off the skull with force. People who regularly play competitive team sports such as American football and rugby have a higher risk of concussion as it is a full contact sport. The physiological response with concussion include headaches often described as similar to migraines in that they cause a throbbing pain on one side or the front of the head. The person may also feel dizzy, sick and fatigue along with having sensitivity to loud...
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...Playing sports is a risk of safety for many reasons. Every year thousands of athletes get injuries that impacts their lives, their futures, or can even result in death. 3.6 million people a year get concussion, over 1.6 of them are athletes. There has always been controversy over cheerleading being a sport, or if football players get more injuries than cheerleaders. Our research question is do more high school football players or cheerleaders get the most concussions. Our research question would be a non-biased study, we would use the population of North Carolina high schools with athletic trainers, the variable is the amount of concussions that each group has. The data collection method we would use is a study. We plan to collect the data...
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...The dangers of Competitive sports Try thinking about a little kid at the age of 8 being in football, now think of this next thing. It’s the first game the boy ever plays in, even after practicing and prepping himself for the big day, he’s ready or at least he thinks he is. But all of a sudden the ball is thrown to him and a boy on the opponent side charges and tackles the one with the ball, helmets clashing, both boys end up getting concussions. Those concussions mean they end up going out of the games for the next few days to weeks of recovery. Being out of school for some time and even being very behind because a concussion could cause a brain injury which could cause major problems with paying attention and having major headaches. Although...
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...Concussions have been an increasingly controversial topic for many years with both reports on an increase of concussions to more awareness towards the issue, how both effects can happen at the same time is a puzzling mystery. The overall opinion of two medical professionals interviewed is that there is more awareness of concussions, causing more concussions to be diagnosed. From constant lawsuits and present and former athletes speaking out against sport associations, concussions are clearly having a large impact on society. According to Tria Physical Therapist Carly Mattson PT, DPT, OCS, a concussion is either caused by an injury or impact to the head or neck. Although once believed that concussions always caused unconsciousness, that is not always the case. “A...
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...At least, 300,000 sports-related concussions happen each year nationwide of all ages (Tanner,2). In high school athletics, they happen at a rate of 3 per 10,000 practices or games (Tanner, 2). Many leagues and association across America are being affected by this concussion epidemic. Many players are saying the leagues are not doing enough about it and are profiting off the injuries. This causes many of the leagues to be sued. The topic of National Football league concussion safety has been in the middle of all of the smoke, and there will always be supporters and critics who continue to debate this topic. Concussions happen in sports every day, they are very common in contact sports. First off, a concussion is a brain injury that is caused by a blow to the head or body that shakes the brain inside the skull (WebMD, 1). When you get a concussion, you may not think clearly there are a whole bunch of symptoms that can happen, it can be your thinking or it can be physical. A concussion can last up to a few hours, or they can last days or weeks (WebMD, 4). How long your concussion is really depends on how hard you hit your head. A concussion is caused if your head is hit hard enough that the spinal fluid surrounding your brain is not enough from cushioning your brain from hitting your skull (WebMD, 1). The only way...
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...world of competitive sports is the effects of concussions, and traumatic brain injury to athletes. Concussions were once thought to be an individual type of occurrence, however, it is now learned that brain injury from impacts, can have long term cumulative impact on the brain and mental health. This disorder is now known as CTE, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. In the early 20th century, this was initially called dementia pugilistica, after doctors began noticing that boxers were sustaining brain injuries after repeated impacts to the head. Mild Traumatic Brain injuries are commonly called concussions, which is an invisible injury. A concussion is caused by rapid acceleration or deceleration of the brain within the skull, .A mild traumatic brain injury or concussion is usually downplayed, due to the fact that a single occurrence usually does not lead to any long term serious health issues. A Traumatic Brain injury would be considered a serious concussion. Any type of concussion, mild or major can cause physical issues, such as headaches, dizziness, nausea, light sensitivity, and feelings of fatigue and lethargy. These injuries can also lead cognitive difficulties and affect the ability to concentrate and disrupt short term memory. This commonly resolves within hours or days for a mild event, and upwards of 6 months for a traumatic or more severe concussion....
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