Sports Injuries In Sports

Head injuries, including concussions, particularly in the game of American football, have become a subject of deep concern, much study and even Congressional hearings in the United States.

The treatment for a concussion used to be as simple as taking time to rest, or smelling bath salts before returning to play. In today’s world, concussions are more appropriately recognized as a serious head injury. In order to correctly diagnose and treat concussions, professional action needs to occur. Preventative measures, proper assessments and diagnosis, correct treatments, and increasing awareness are a few ways to reduce an issue down to a more manageable position. Concussions are a common threat in many aspects of life today. From contact sports to accidental falls, head injuries are an increasing issue that needs to be recognized as such. Two to four million concussion injuries occur from sports and recreation settings in the United States every year (The American Academy of Neurology). Most of these injuries result in a full recovery, but there are people who are left with dehabilitating injuries for the remainder of their lives. Thankfully it is becoming well known that these problems exist, and many people are starting to take action.

Concussions have become a major controversy in the United States. Because of uninformed students and negligent coaches, many student athletes are experiencing the severe complications that accompany the injury. High school athletes seem to be the most affected and for this reason are more vulnerable than other students to experience concussions. Not properly managing concussions in time could have significant and problematic injuries that could potentially effect the victims overall ability to live a healthy life. For this reason, athletes should have to stay out of any physical activity for the necessary time to allow their brain to properly heal.

The sports communities that require concussion education include the players themselves; their parents, the coaches, trainers, therapists, and referees; sports organizations/leagues; the media; teachers; and health care professionals. Several gains in recognition and management that impact upon concussion prevention can only be made through widespread of knowledge about concussions. Concussions are a serious issue in many professional sports. Concussions affect multiple sports in many ways. Many sports today are affected by the medical condition of concussions. Today, multiple leagues and professionals are learning how to prepare and prevent these career shattering injuries. With hundreds of medical advancements and a better understanding of the knowledge that the science has, we are assisting athletes to recover from these injuries. In order to understand concussions that lead the role on the games, one must look at the symptoms, injuries, and side-effects of this

Concussion injuries frequently occur in the United States affecting young children, teens, collegiate, and professional athletes. According to the Journal of School Health, “Concussions remain a serious public health concern as approximately 1.6 to 3.8 million sports-related concussions are estimated to occur each year” (Covassin, Elbin, and Sarmiento, 2012). Public health is bringing

Concussions in sports have become a very popular issue in the past century. Athletes are becoming bigger, faster, stronger, and more aggressive. With this, though, comes more injuries as a whole and injuries that are more dangerous as well. Parents, coaches, fans, and athletes have become more aware of how dangerous concussions can be and what effect they can have on an individual throughout the rest of their life. Many advancements and changes have been made in an attempt to keep athletes and players safer and more protected. Some individuals believe parents, coaches, and trainers are becoming overly protective and are ruining the entertainment of the game and the competitiveness of the players. Any sort of traumatic brain injury can have many effects on the individual; there are short-term, medium-term, and long-term consequences of concussions that can continue affecting the individual for fourteen years after he or she has suffered the head injury. Although many advancements have been made and preventing concussions has become a priority in the ‘sports-world,’ authority figures and athletes still ignore the symptoms of concussions to allow the athlete to continue to participate. However, in order to continue the entertainment that sporting events bring fans and the enjoyment that they bring to the participants, more precautions should be made to keep the players on the field and in good health.

Concussions in youth sports has recently became more popular in the news. Mukand and Serra recently discovered, “about 1.6- 3.8 million sports-related concussions occur every year, and a recent study found that 182,000 football players may sustain at least one concussion annually in youth (99,000), high school (76,640), and NCAA football programs (3,905), or about 1 in 30 players and 1 in 14 high school players” (16). The amount of concussions should be alarming to athletes and the parents. Hospitals have noticed a growing number of visits from children and young adults with concussions because of sports, but it is unclear if the rise is due to more concussions or more reports due to better awareness of concussions (Mitka 1775-1776). Concussions could be on the rise or more people are recognizing the symptoms of concussions and then reporting them. Either way, concussions in youth sports need to be reduced or completely eliminated. Sports related concussions in youth can be prevented with proper education and technique. Efficient and reliable equipment and better rules and regulations in youth sports can also prevent concussions and brain injuries in youth and adolescents.

In the health world, concussions are finally now deemed as serious issues to physicians and athletic trainers. A couple decades ago, concussions were seen as just “getting your bell rung” with no long-term effects, that is really tragic when we really look back on it. There were many

Sports hold tremendous value in American society and all athletes have at least one thing in common: the risk of getting a concussion. A concussion is a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that results from a direct/indirect action or force that causes the brain to shake rapidly within the skull (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2016). This injury can mildly or severely affect the brain’s function by damaging brain cells and producing chemical alterations (CDC, 2016). Throughout the years, concussions have been more prevalent not only in professional sports, but among youth, college, and recreational sports as well. Despite the remarkably high statistics on concussions in the U.S., many cases still go unreported (Groce & Urankar, 2016, p. 22). Sustaining this injury can significantly set a person back physically, mentally, and emotionally. Due to the risks and health issues associated with concussions doctors, athletic trainers, coaches, and lawmakers are getting involved to protect athletes of all levels from receiving concussions.

The hit is quick and powerful. Sight is blurry; memory is hazy. The hand in front of your face has six fingers instead of five. JFK is president and the Grand Canyon is in Alaska. Concussions are the most frequent of traumatic brain injuries and they are receiving similar treatment as a rolled ankle. Sports of all kinds, ages, and gender need to increase the precautions set forth to preventing this life threatening injury.

In medical terms, concussions are described as "a complex pathophysiologic process affecting the brain, induced by traumatic biomechanical forces" (Hunt, Paniccia, Reed, & Keightley, 2016, p. 749). Over the past couple of years, the number of concussions in athletics has increased drastically. According to the data released by the National High School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance Study, in the school year 2005-06 there were 133,000 concussions, which was much less than the recent data of the 2014-15 school year of 292,000 (Brzycki, 2016, p. 57). Not only are concussions becoming more prominent, but they accounted for 24.5% of all the injuries in 2014-15 (Brzycki, 2016, p. 57). Although many advances in concussion protocol have been

Many private companies and researchers have taken the issue of concussions head on. Research has drastically increased throughout the 21st century. In the words of Mark Lovell PhD. founding director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program, “90% of what we know about concussions we’ve learned in the past five years.” These private researchers have taken different approaches to solving the issue but they are all working to achieve one goal: the reduction of concussions and the prevention of their long-term effects.

A recent study of college football players has shown that those who participate in high contact sports and have had a concussion before have a 300% higher chance of having another one in comparison to athletes that have never had a concussion before (Jolicoeur et al, 2007). The NFL and NCAA have enacted several rule changes in order to minimize the occurrence of concussions. These new rules, like many before them, have come under the scrutiny of the very athletes that they were meant to protect. The NHL and NHL Players Association in 1997 together created a program in order to get a better understanding of concussions and how to prevent them (Burke et al, 2011). According to Covassin (2008), athletes who have had more than one concussion take a longer time to recover with each concussion that they suffer from.

In the U.S there are thirty million or more children/teens that participate in sports. Out of the 30 million children/teens that participate in sports, 3.5 million of those children/teens get injured each year.

hergenroeder says injuries in sports also include psychological injury as well. Young athletes should play sports for self enjoyment and to boost self-esteem and improve athletic skills. If these are not priorities in youth sports then participation in sports are potentially harmful by decreasing self-esteem, diminishing athletic skills, and discouraging additional participation in sports. Pediatricians should be aware of potential psychological issues within a young athlete and provide guidance to address them. Albert also says pediatricians should always be involved in providing medical care for children and adolescents when these patients are injured in sports participation. Albert says the overall goal of his article was to increase competency of pediatricians in sports medicine care, specificaly prevention of sports related injuries. Overall Phsycological issues should be looked at carefuly to prevent any future damage to the