The Long Term Effects of Concussions in Children Essay

Concussions can truly mess with an athlete’s brain and can give him or her lifelong troubles.

Concussions occur on a large scale in football. During a concussion, the head can experience a blow directly or can have whiplash. When the head is hit, the brain hits the inside of the skull, giving it a temporary bruise. This bruise or tearing of the brain can lead to mental impairments that can affect a person’s emotional state of being, physical problems like deteriorated mobility and sensitivity to light and sound. Doctors are quick to point out one of the major reasons that youth receive concussions, saying, “... children have big heads relative to the rest of their bodies and weak necks… that elevates the risk of concussions,” (P6). Along with a lack of education and care for the protection of athletes, youth are already at a huge risk. When children wear their football helmets, they are saving themselves from many injuries that could have occurred without them, most especially protecting the brain. But, in many cases, this is not enough.

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

Concussions have a huge impact on athletics and student athletes in our generation today. They effect people's lives for the worse and cause setbacks in education and athletic opportunities. Many students who get concussions from athletic activities return to play their sport too soon after getting the concussion, which can cause even more serious issues. Considering 300,000 sports related concussions occur each year, they are very relevant to our everyday lives. Returning to play a sport too soon after suffering from a concussion can result in the risk for a further injury or worse concussion, severe symptoms and healing, and the very likely chance for another concussion to occur.

If a student player were to be impacted on the field and have a concussion, they should sit out for a longer period of time to fully recover. This because if a student were to have a head injury, somewhat recover, and then get back on the field, they would have higher risks of permanent brain damage which can effect their daily activities. Findings show that a high school student are 3 times more likely to experience a second concussion if they have already had a concussion during that season. They also show that if they fail at properly healing their concussion, they might have long-term consequences and could effect jobs further in life.

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.

If concussions are related to permanent brain damage, then the amount of time spent in recovery should be increased, as supplying ample amount of time will provide reassurance that the brain has healed for athletes who recover quickly and for athletes who naturally need more time to recover.

Concussions are injuries to the brain that can be caused by any significant blunt force trauma to the head such as a fall, car accident, being struck on the head with an object, or sports injury. Sports are second only to motor vehicle accidents as the leading cause of traumatic brain injury particularly among people who are 15 to 24 years old (Solomon, 2006). Pediatric physicians care for a significant number of patients who are involved in sport-related activities in schools or clubs, however most sport-related concussions are never diagnosed because young athletes may not recognize or report the symptoms of a concussion. It is important for physicians to know that although concussions are the most minor of traumatic brain injuries, if not detected and managed properly, they can lead to more serious short-term and long-term issues.

Children and adolescents must rely on their parents for obtaining the proper treatment and if they don’t that child is continuing to play on top of an already injured brain. This places them at risk for more harm and future concussions. Populations of low socioeconomic status are also more at risk for concussions and post concussive effects because of the lack of education of the parents, sports coaches, and community resources.

Additionally, she is a writer for In Touch Weekly, and has been an associate editor of Apex Medical Communications, and Quadrant HealthCom Inc. While she is not an expert in the neurological filed, she does have experience in both the journalistic and medical fields. She has worked for a few medical related organizations, and holds editing positions. She has no posted conflicts of interest, and has cited sources in text. Additionally, there is no stated bias, or lack thereof. The article is for Neurological Reviews, and thus there is no conflict of interest, rather just information on new concussion research. While the article contains no post-work bibliography, there are in text citations. The main study is cited from Brain, and different neurologist are quoted throughout the article for their professional opinions on the study. This article is about 8 years old. However, the research is still in line with the current trends in this field. There is clear connection between concussions and long term effects. Additionally, all research methods are still considered valid and ethical. While a more recent article would be preferred, this is still valid, and acceptable for use in a research

The safety of young football players for years has been a long growing concern and controversy for parents, players, high school coaches and school officials, and as well as NFL coaches and medical professionals in America. Parents worry about their children getting injured or concussions during the game. Furthermore, many parents believe that football can be safer and that the organization of football is not doing enough to protect players and their safety. However, to some football players concussions are not a big issue. Some players are too worried about their playing time to realize the consequences of getting concussions repeatedly. Therefore, some football players do not tell the coaches about their concussions. In addition, coaches also have a problem with the safety of football affecting their programs. Some coaches fear that football programs will shut down because of the controversy of how football can lead to brain damage. Besides parents, players, and coaches, doctors have a big say in the controversy. Neurologists, who are specialists in the disorders of nerves and the nervous system, have recently studied the link between football and brain damage. According to Jacob Vanlandingham, who is the founder and president of Prevacus Incorporated, a company who primarily studies concussions, said that “Doctors diagnose approximately 67,000 concussions in high school football players every year” (Vanlandingham, p.1). Nevertheless, some stakeholders, including ex-football players, believe that everything has already been done to make football as safe as possible. Football organizations have made new rules and placed new programs in order to keep young players healthy and to keep football programs from shutting down. The big controversial question that all stakeholders are asking is, “Is football doing enough to protect young children?”

The purpose of the study is to bring awareness about the seriousness of concussion injuries. Examining the severity of high school athletes who suffered sport related concussions is critical to determine the short term/long term damaging effects. When athletes’ concussions go undiagnosed, the risk of further damages increases since they are not fully recovered. This means that athletes will return to participation unknowingly since the injury goes undetected. In addition, when parents, coaches, doctors, and athletes are aware about the dangers of concussions, they can have a conversation and discuss the best options to ensure the safety of athletes. This means that injured athletes will not be allowed to participate under any

Concussions are the most common injury in all sports and can cause more damage than any other injury. That may sound a bit dramatic but it is the truth. A concussion is a traumatic brain injury that affects your brain function. Effects are usually temporary but can include headaches and problems with concentration, memory, balance and coordination. Concussions are caused by a blow to the head, violent shaking of the head, or other parts of the body. If not treated properly, long-term memory begins to fade away and people become more forgetful. That is just the start of it. However most concussion cases have a full recovery and minimum side-effects. Unfortunately some people get more concussions after another and they end up damaging the very thing that provides functions for the body. The biggest thing about treating a concussion is do not engage in any activity that could potentially damage the brain and make the concussion worse than it already is. It is also noted that brain cells are killed rapidly every time someone takes a concussive blow to the head and that’s why it is important to be extra protective of the head. That means no intake of alcohol or tobacco because of the “buzz” it provides which makes even a headache worse than it should, and on top of

One reason greater precautions are necessary is because young athletes’ brains are not fully developed, and a concussion can cause long-term damage. In the article “BU Study Links Youth Football,

This article was very intriguing to read. As a very competitive high school athlete, I had suffered from a severe concussion, as a result from taking the opposing team’s attempted shot on goal to the back of the head, which kept me out of any sports related activity for a month while also missing school for a week and a half. It was also very interesting to read about how concussions occur more in high school athletes than in college athletes. This can be due colleges only selecting from the most skilled pool of athletes, while high school coaches tend to allow players will little skill and no concept of the game to play in the game as long as they can perform to the level at which the can be successful from.