Short Term Effects Of Concussions In Sports

The documentary Head Games directed by Steve James follows former football player and ex-wrestler, Chris Nowinski, on his mission to uncover the truth about the consequences of playing sports related to concussions. A concussion is a brain injury that you cannot see and where the brain moves around in the skull. More than 3.8 million concussions occur a year due to a sport. The documentary raises the question of whether protective head-gear should be worn in all contact sports. I believe a head is more likely to sustain more damage to the brain without a helmet than a head with a helmet.

B. Athletes have a strong desire to play and ultimately return to the game too soon after a concussion, even knowing the dangers they face. C. Gino Odjick was a fighter for the Vancouver Canucks back in 1998. “The 43-year-old said there was very little information about the dangers of sports-related head trauma when he first started playing hockey. As a result, he played while concussed and is now suffering the long-term consequences” (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/former-nhler-gino-odjick-speaks-on-concussion-dangers-1.2515082)

In the article "heads up: concussions in high school sports", it exemplifies how high school athletes are more vulnerable to concussions and may take longer to recover based upon immaturity of the central nervous system, the lack of recognition that a concussion has occurred, and the reliability of symptoms. The document, "concussion: potential causes and long-term impact", supports the conclusion of how repeated injuries can result in permanent brain damage. If an athlete where to experience a concussion more than once, then these effects can be permanent. The damage can affect them in other careers too. This is why it is important to let athletes have more recover time for concussions: another concussion occurring in that same time frame can alter their mental status and the team may loose that athlete forever.

There has been an abundance of controversy over recovery time for athletes who suffered dangerous concussions. Many would argue that there is enough safety in the helmets and medical personnel, but if head injuries, more specifically concussions, are linked to permanent brain damage, athletes should be required to sit out long enough for the brain to completely heal. Brain injury can have a serious negative impact on performance and repeated trauma can have fatal results. The brain is a very delicate computer running the program that is you.

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.

A concussion can happen at any time in sports, and can occur when you bang your head or when your head comes in contact with a hard object or thing. After a concussion student athletes should sit out for a longer period of time to rest and heal the brain to avoid permanent brain damage or risk a second, more serious concussion. Concussions should always be avoided because of the danger it can bring to the body is permanent. The dangers of concussions are permanent or fatal.

Multiple concussion can result in a lifetime of mental issues and long term effects. College athletes put excessive time into their sports. Some Division 1 athletes

Stated in the first excerpt, people should be aware that 10% of athletes take more than 7 days to recover from the effects of a concussion. The percentage could vary depending on how badly you were hit. If you were to continue a game while injured it could hurt you even worse or even make the effects last longer than they should. If you sat out when told, you could recover faster then get back to the game to perform your best. When performing better, people will notice you more and your chances to play for colleges could increase.

There are many sports that cause Concussions. According to “Meet the press” girls are more likely to get concussions from Lacrosse,Soccer and for boys there is soccer, Football, Lacrosse and it also mentions how girls are more likely to get concussions than boys do to the different hormonal levels and girls have smaller necks and can not take as much impact than boys. For about 9 in 10 people with concussions, symptoms disappear within 7 to 10 days. In the US, athletes suffer from roughly 300,000 concussions every year .when an athlete receives a concussion it does not only affect them in practice but also in class at school.

A concussion usually comes from a blow to the head that rattles the brain and causes it to swell. “High school and even some college programs lack the resources necessary to protect their players from concussion”(Football).

If being hit and slammed onto the ground many times on your head in painful ways, then playing sports may not be your cup of tea, however for many kids it is just what they like. They like the rush, the adrenaline, they get when they are making the run for the touch down or scoring the winning goal. People should wait after they get a concussion because once you get the first one it is easier to get another one, also if you go back to sports to early it could cause brain da,s Nevertheless, they don't understand that it comes at a cost that significantly out weighs the adrenaline rush. Concussions an injury that can go unnoticed, an injury that can last for weeks even for months once you have it getting another one is almost inevitable.

More now than before, athletes are being extremely cautious when there is trauma to the brain. After multiple cases of poor treatment, parents and doctors are taking control of an epidemic of untreated concussions. As more studies advance, it is discovered that every case is different. The range of seriousness is created by severity, past experience with trauma, and how the patient heals. Concussions in sports can range in severity, and how they affect each individual over time depending on times of impact.

Athletes who have a prior concussion face greater risks of developing critical symptoms of concussions and that can lead to slow recovery (Agel and Harvey 319–323). On some instances, concussion can lead to permanent damage and can even become

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.”

According to a research report from Loehrke, a young athlete suffers a sports related injury that is severe enough to go to the emergency room approximately every 25 seconds, or 1.35 million times a year. The most prominent of these injuries were concussions, which accounted for 163,670, or 12 percent of the total 1.35 million injuries (Loehrke). Dr. Alexander K. Powers, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Wake Forest Baptist Health in North Carolina, found that most children who suffer concussions recover, but the prognosis for children who suffer recurring concussions is unknown. Recurring concussions could lead to several disabilities later in life, such as dementia, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer 's disease, epilepsy, and many other neurological disorders that would require a substantial amount of surgery to cure, if they could even be cured at all (Powers). Putting a child at risk to suffer injuries, such as the ones listed above, is one of the main reasons why the amount of children participating in competitive sports has been dropping