Informative Essay On Concussions

Concussions in the NFL have been a big topic over the years and will continue to plague the League and the Players. In fact in 2015 alone 271 players suffered a concussion over the whole season (CNN). However People don’t realize what happens to the player after they get a concussion in the NFL. Concussions change players lives after playing the NFL. As a result of concussion sustained in the NFL, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), and dementia occur.

Recreational athletes, competitive athletes, high school athletes, college athletes, and professional athletes all have one thing in common: the risk of a concussion. It's impossible to go a season without one athlete from a team receiving a concussion. The more that these concussions are studied, the more we learn about them, such as their detrimental effects on athletes. Because of the risk of health issues and death that come with concussions, doctors, coaches, athletic trainers, and lawmakers are stepping in to protect athletes of all levels from receiving concussions.

Even though football players are aware of the dangers the game can bring upon them, they take part despite it. The passion, the joy it creates; for professionals it’s also the devoted fans and compensation they receive is what keeps the players motivated. Today players are much bigger, faster, smarter, bigger, better. The game is more physical. The sport has never been so competitive. The popularity has reached new peaks, as much that the NFL has thoughts of moving a team to London, England. Additionally, Super Bowl XLVII (47) was one of the most watched television events of all time; an astonishing 108.4 million viewers (The Associated Press). Fans worship their teams and love to see big hits. Football is a contact sport; injuries are no

Studies show, by law a player must sign off by a medical professional before the player can return to the field. Studies also show, concussions and or head head injuries are linked to permanent brain damage. The question frequently asked is "should injured athletes be required to sit out for periods of time to allow time for the brain to heal completely?" As an athlete, I think athletes should wait. Only because if a player gets one concussion and goes back to their sports and gets hit in the head, that could lead to permanent damage for not giving the brain time to heal from the previous injury.

Concussions are a recurring problem among athletes of all ages. Each year, thousands of athletes are sidelined with concussions. The treatment for those with concussions are being questioned every day, but the athletes are not alone. Trainers are the first members of the sports medicine team to assess the injury. A great deal of stress comes with this duty because the trainer must make decisions regarding the athlete’s health in a matter of minutes. The athletic trainer plays a dominant role in providing initial care for athletes with concussions.

A concussion is when you go unconsciousness for a little while caused by a blow to the head. The term is also used loosely of the after effects such as confusion or temporary incapacity. Concussion is are known as a mild brain injury that is a mild brain injury MTBI mild head injury and a little head trauma. Some experts will define a concussion as a head injury with temporary loss of brain function which can cause some cognitive physical and emotional symptoms. Symptoms may also include headache, confusion, lack of coordination. The term concussion describes an injury to the brain resulting from a hard impact to the head. By definition a concussion is not a life threatening injury but should be treated fast . The use of protective headgear can decrease the risk of a concussion when you are engaging in any of the following activities Contact martial arts sports such as boxing, karate, and others Football. Most post concussion symptoms such as headaches, sensitivity to noise and light, dizziness, fatigue and memory problems go away with about seven to ten days after the injury but sometimes post concussion symptoms can last up to about 3 months. Rarely do symptoms last longer. What can you do when you have a concussion? Some people who have had a concussion find that at first it

Concussions are a rising issue in the daily life of many athletes in the sports of hockey, soccer, football, and skateboarding. Every 21 seconds, someone in this country encounters a brain injury. Concussions are brain injuries caused by jolts or hard hits around the head. When the tissue of the brain slams against the strong, thick skull in your head, a concussion is very common. This leads to either swelling of the brain, “torn blood vessels, or injury to the nerves.” (Haas) Eventually, the result will be immediate, delayed, or even permanent loss of your own brain. In the next four paragraphs, I will describe to you how a concussion is important to you and others, what the world can do to stop this issue, and what you can do to prevent

It wasn’t until Dr. McKee and other researchers presented evidence of CTE in football players during a congressional hearing with the U.S. House of Representatives, in 2009, that the NFL changed its approach to addressing these findings. Later that year, during an interview with The New York Times, NFL Spokesman Greg Aiello stated “it’s quite obvious from the medical research that’s been done that concussion can lead to long-term problems.” This was one of the first times the league admitted that concussions and brain injuries had long-term impact on players. Admitting that there was a problem was one of the first steps in overhauling their approach to CTE’s impact on football players. Towards the end of that year, there was a shake up

In the United States alone, athletes account for about 300,000 concussions each year (11 Facts). A concussion is a traumatic brain injury that causes swelling of the brain 's soft tissue and disrupts normal brain function (Concussion). A concussion has potential to impact memory and coordination for the rest of the athlete 's life along with lead to other, more serious, brain injuries. In order for athletes to reduce the effects from concussions, they need to be educated on the symptoms, ways to avoid the injury, and the possible lifelong effects.

My first research project was the dangers and preventions of concussions in sports. Concussions can be very dangerous if you are not wearing the proper equipment and do not treat them properly. For those of you who don’t know “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”. There are many symptoms of a concussion. “You may be suffering from a concussion if you experience dizziness, headache, off-balance, amnesia for what occurred before the head trauma, anterograde amnesia (a loss of ability to create new memories after the head trauma), difficulty concentrating, irritability and vomiting”.

In the sports world today, there are many different injuries that athletes experience and one of the most devastating injury is a concussion. Concussions can happen to anyone, in any sport, but we tend to see most concussions in contact sports (Świerzewski 1). While having an informal conversation with my dad about football, he told me it was common for athletes to receive a head injury in a game and continue to play as if nothing was wrong. While watching SportsCenter, I found that some of the greatest retired athletes don’t remember the best moments of their careers due to the lack of treatment. The worst aspect of concussions is that the symptoms can be delayed; in some cases, it’s only a headache so athletes don’t seek medical treatment. Multiple concussions over time can lead to life-threatening complications due to the damage they cause to the brain. Concussions can happen to anybody at anytime, but there is more to concussions than meets the eye.

It is predicted that about 1.7 million people suffer from brain injuries every year, with 52,000 of them resulting in loss of life(Rao). A concussion is a result of a sudden impact to the head that can cause problematic symptoms for anyone who endures it. Concussions have only recently become a recognized issue and there is little awareness and research about them resulting in a lack of care and treatment information. With all that we know about concussions, Active Treatments are more beneficial to the healing process of concussions than conventional treatments. A concussion can be defined by an injury to the brain that results from a significant blunt force to the head that causes the head to abruptly stop moving or change direction(“Concussion”[Page #1]).

Many people think that they will never get a concussion because of the common assumption that this type of injury mainly occurs in military personnel and those who play high-impact sports. But that is far from the truth. In reality, anyone of any age or occupation can get a concussion from a car or workplace accident, a bad fall, or being struck in the head from an object or a fist. And this can result in serious health problems. Because of this, it is important that everyone understands the following information on what a concussion is, what symptoms this type of injury can cause, how dangerous it can be if it goes untreated, and when to hire a concussion attorney.

Post-concussion syndrome is a complex disorder with symptoms can consist of headaches, dizziness, fatigue, and irritability that can last as little as a week and up to months after a head injury. The causes can be a traumatic blow to the head or neck injuries in which the patient does not have to lose consciousness. The effect of being injured can do permanent damaged to the brain and nervous system. Dealing with Post-concussion syndrome not only can have a physical effect, but a psychological one as well (Mayo clinic page 2).

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.