Concussions in sports have been on a rise more than ever, not only just in football but also in other sports such as kids’ soccer and ice hockey. There are major outcomes that can occur with concussions, as in C.T.E. (chronic traumatic encephalopathy). This condition occurs when a player is hit, gets a concussion and part of the brain vessels block off with dead brain vessels. This has caused multiple deaths in many athletes like Mike Webster, a former Pittsburgh Steeler, who lived in his truck while going insane. He would taser himself just to go to sleep because of concussions in his former football career. Webster and many such as Terry Long, Junior Seau, and Andrew Waters have died because of concussions and C.T.E. and today it is on …show more content…
With all the different treatment processes which are the best? Hines Ward once said after his concussion “If you want to prevent concussions, take the helmet off: play old school football with leather helmets, no facemask, when you put a helmet on you’re going to use it as a weapon.”(Piazza). The N.F.L. will spend $40 million in the next five years on long-term effects of concussions and C.T.E., and $100 million has already spent in long-term studies on the impact of concussions and repeated head blows (Belson). A new helmet is being designed by Peter Halldin and Hansvon Holst are making a helmet that allows sliding between helmet and head. An inner shell, which is attached to the helmet with joints that move under certain angles of impact. When a glancing blow lands at an angle, the helmet will rotate while the head does not move (Piazza). There is also a new program known as HITS, which allows researchers to find real world impacts as well as the location where impact occurs (Piazza). Richard Greenwald used HITS in a study in Brown University in 2008 nearly 300,000 impacts occurred while helmet on helmet (Piazza). Concussions in sports have risen due to the cause of head trauma, will it continue to get worse, until someone does something about
CTE and Brain injuries have been a factor that leads to Mike Webster’s health deterioration. The causes of brain injury resulted from a strong impact, causing the brain to collide against the skull. With this happening, the blood vessels stretch out, damaging the cranial nerves. Football is known as a watched sport, therefore, in order to continue, one must have solutions towards the issue while not altering the game. Having safety helmets with paddings can help lessen the impact, bouncing the energy away from the head during a head-on collision.
Redesigning the Football Helmet Head to head contact is a very serious matter. Kids, adults, and everyone in between are getting hurt in football due to the hard hits they take either in practice or games. The goal is to make football safer but people are still getting hurt and even killed. There are new helmets coming out every year but still not eliminating the problem.
In the past few years, the number of concussions per year has only spiked. The NFL calls it a “cultural change” in that the staff are more willing to report head injuries instead of neglecting them. However, to many like Christopher Nowinski- one of the founders of the Concussion Legacy foundation- this increase just shows that the NFL does not care to prevent head injuries, only treat them when they are developed. The number of concussions between the 2013 and 2014 season actually increased by 58
Some of the tests revealed damage to the amygdala which controls mood. Additionally the NFL players scored much lower on memory tests, and had worse verbal skills (Hedin, 2015) 5. Due to the recent number of suicides & violent crimes committed by former players, there is more of a need to research the correlation between the head injuries in the NFL and brain disease even more C. Thesis Point 3: What steps the National Football league has taken to protect players long term health and safety 1. With the scrutiny the NFL has come under, they have developed a new protocol for the diagnoses and treatment of players with concussions 2. Under the new protocol, any player who exhibits sings of a concussion, even the most remote sign, must come out of the game and be checked out by the medical staff, they may not return to the same game if they undergo tests for concussion.
However, it is also important to note that a concussion can also take place outside of sports, meaning it can happen to anybody. For instance, there have been incidents where a person tripped while running, fell, and the impact of their head’s contact with the ground caused a concussion. Or, in a car accident many front-seat passengers, or even the driver, have slammed their heads against the dashboard/steering wheel, also possibly resulting in a concussion. Concussions when treated can be healed in a timely manner. Unfortunately, throughout history, there has been a tendency for people to overlook a concussion as a serious injury, therefore, making it more problematic than it already is.
According to an article titled “Riddell Unveils Overhauled New Football Helmet SpeedFlex,” the solution may be closer than ever. Just recently, Riddell came out with a new football helmet called the SpeedFlex. Like the Revolution Speed and Riddell 360 helmet, this helmet was designed to reduce the impact of head-to-head concussions.
Not only is this not very important, as they make almost 20 billion dollars per year, but it would actually benefit them financially, as they would be spending much less on medical expenses for injuries. The technology that would be required for the league to substantially reduce their head injuries, as well as other injuries, has already been publicly available for many years and is easily inexpensive enough for them to afford. This technology is called D3O. It is a non-Newtonian fluid that is easily moldable and flexible but becomes very stiff and energy absorbent when it is struck. The NFL is just starting to experiment with D3O, but they are choosing not to put it into their equipment. They are working on researching how much they need to be as effective as possible, and how to get enough of it while staying within their
Many products such as helmets, headbands, and mouth guards have been claimed to prevent concussions. But, as of right now, none of these claims have been sustained/ lived up to that claim(Sports). Most of these products offer protection, not prevention. Football leagues need to do more to help the safety of young football players because, they are not fully independent adults, and, they are not represented by the players union as NFL players are. This means that football leagues need to do more to protect the safety and well being of football
The main change that could easily be made to help with the problem is to better the quality of the helmets used in the sport. It would not be too hard because new helmets are already being made just for the concussion cases. After this, changes could be made to the sport for safety. There will always be some dangers in the sport because it is a very high contact sport. “Despite the best efforts of the leagues, the players, and the medical and engineering communities, the incidence of injury at all levels of the game continues to increase” (Solving football’s).
In Brian W. Benson’s article, he states, “Concussion results in a graded set of clinical symptoms that may or may not involve loss of consciousness or memory dysfunction.” Major injuries are always an issue when it comes to contact sports among all ages. Due to this, changes have been made to the physical rules of the game. For example, in all levels, there is now a penalty for head contact. Hockey is a fast-paced game and it can be difficult to perform a clean body check.
Football concussions can lead to brain injuries or other serious health issues that can be fatal. Concussions can happen in many different ways, which all involve big hits to the head. Hard hits to a player's head can cause his or her brain to move in different ways which can cause brain bruising or bleeding. A hard hit to a player’s forehead causes the brain to accelerate in a back and forth motion that can make a player feel nauseous or unstable. If the hit is focussed in the left or right side of a player's forehead it can cause the brain to move in a twisting motion which will leave the player light headed and with a headache.
THE INCREASING NUMBER OF CONCUSSION IN ATHLETES ARE DETRIMENTAL TO THE FUTURE OF SPORTS In the recent years, concussions have become a common accident related to various types of sports around the globe. A concussion is a traumatic injury of the brain, they can also be as a result of a sudden blow on the body. Such a blow may cause the head to jerk back and forth in a rapid motion. This may cause a bounce or twist within the skull, which may over stretch the brain, cause cell damage and alter chemical functioning within the brain.
Concussions in Sports In sports, concussions occur frequently across all age groups. From little leagues to high school sports to the professional leagues, concussions pose a high risk of long term Traumatic brain injuries. Because of the high rate of concussions in sports more attention should be paid to protocols and treatment to prevent traumatic brain injuries. High school athletes that partake in a sport that requires intense physical activity are the most vulnerable to concussion and need more time to recover. According to the Head Case “High school football accounts for 47 percent of all reported sports concussions, with 33 percent of concussions occurring during practice.”
"By the time they get to high school, kids have a 5% chance of sustaining a concussion for each season they play" (Zimmerman). If they choose to keep playing football then they will eventually end up with a brain concussion or brain damage. Over the years 65-80% of head injuries go unnoticed ("Stopping the..."58). Football player ignore the fact that it is just a headache. Hospitals took 150,000 in 2001 to 250,000 in 2009 dramatically increased because of concussions ("Injuries in...").
Study's show that players can get concussion from to hard of hits. The hits add up over time and can take a terrible toll. According to Hard Knocks "C.T.E is a head trauma- induced disease linked to depression, impulse control problems, memory loss, and dementia.". We need to decrease the hits players got. Some players get old safety gear that’s been past down long past its prime.