Preventing and Treating Concussions in Sports
Recently in
sports, concussions have become a huge epidemic. While some say that changing
the rules will make the game “no fun” and “unwatchable” something has to be
done to prevent concussions and CTE from becoming an even worse epidemic. CTE
or chronic traumatic encephalopathy is the culmination of several concussions
over an extended career of dealing with concussions. CTE can lead to headaches,
dementia, depression and eventually death. So, how should sports teams and
athletes approach the way concussions are treated? There are several ways to
try to prevent concussions and concussion like symptoms from happening.
Concussions
cannot fully extinguish but there are things that can be done to prevent it.
According to The Sports Legacy Institute and the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs, 3 out of 4 athletes tested positive for a degenerative brain disease.
90% of concussions were not even diagnosed because the symptoms were subtle and
the athletes did not know or were not encouraged to report them. Athletes that
were examined were from different sports, they include: boxers, football
players, and hockey players. This research showed that not only is degenerative
brain disease spread throughout several sports but also that many of the
athletes were not encouraged to report their concussion like symptoms. Who knows how many other athletes in other
sports have not reported concussion like symptoms? Even if all concussions cannot
be prevented, CTE can possibly be caught early and treated correctly if more
athletes’ are encouraged to report their concussions.
The best way
to prevent concussions in sports has also been the most controversial and
criticized way of preventing concussions, rule changes. Over the past few years rule changes have
been argued by old school fans, especially in football. In the article The NFL and NHL React, Christopher
Nowinski, a former pro wrestler and author of the book Head Games: Football's Concussion Crisis, the NFL has done several
things to prevent concussions like moving the kickoff line placement from the 30
to the 35-yard line and also have implemented a set amount of times a team can
practice in full padded, tackling practices. They have also hired trainers to
monitor and provide an insight on possible concussions. Concussions in the NHL
have also been rampant. In 2010, three hockey players who played “enforcer”
roles on their respective teams during their playing careers died. One died of
a drug overdose and the other two died of apparent suicide. The NHL has started
to investigate way to make the equipment and the game safer.
Some may ask
“If a concussion is such a serious issue then why have we not heard about it
until recently.” The truth is, players, coaches, and organizations were not
willing to release the information about how concussions affect people until
recently. Over 120 players and their families have filed over a dozen lawsuits
against the NFL for the way their concussions were approached. Many players
claim they were not encouraged to report concussions and that the NFL knew the
repercussions of concussions but did not inform the players of them.
Concussions
do not just happen to professional athletes. Concussions are wide-spread around
all levels of athletics. One big issue that is becoming apparent is the problem
that student athletes face when they experience a concussion. Some of the
symptoms of concussions are: inability to concentrate, drowsiness, headaches
and depression. All of these symptoms can play a big role in the academic
performance of a student athlete. If a student cannot concentrate on his or her
school work then they can fall behind and struggle to make up their work. In
the article Concussions are No Fun,
Kelly Whiteside, a writer for USA today, explains the story of an average high
school soccer athlete, Brianna Binowski. Brianna experienced a concussion while
playing soccer. She explained that it was hard for her to study or concentrate
on school because of recurring headaches. As a result, Brianna’s grades went
from straight As and Bs to Bs and Cs. Brianna explained that she had to work
even harder and longer to get her grades back up and maintain them. After 9
months she still experienced bad headaches and sleeping issues. Preventing and
treating concussions in student athletes is very important because most of them
will not make it to the pro level and they need to be succesful in school for
their future careers.
According to
my survey, most people are aware of concussions and some of the effects it has
on people who experience them. Most of my constituents thought that football
had the biggest problem with concussions, but they could not think of any ways
to prevent concussions besides changing the equipment. So, what exactly are the
NFL or NHL or any other sports league or association supposed to do to prevent
concussions? Concussions will never go away; however, we can try to prevent
them from happening by improving the equipment. We can add more padding to the
helmets of football players and baseball players. We can also change the rules,
not drastically but enough to ensure a higher safety rate. In hockey many
players get concussions from fighting and illegal hits. Suspending and fining
players who make illegal hits will send a little message but banning fights
will send the message that it will not be tolerated anymore. High profile
players are being hurt because of reckless fighting and illegal hits.
Preventing
concussions is only half of the battle because concussions will still happen no
matter what, so we have to be able to treat concussions. In today’s
technological medical field, new ways are being found to treat diseases but
research on treating concussions and CTE is relatively new. With all the recent
suicides of former athletes who were found to have traces of CTE, doctors are
trying to find ways to find and treat CTE. A special kind of exercise has been
created to help athletes who have experienced concussions and might have early
signs of CTE or dementia. Preventing and treating concussions has certainly
become a debatable topic but one thing is for certain; the battle against
concussions and their long term effects is just beginning.
Works Cited
Thorne, James. “Sports Concussion
Survey”. Survey. March 2nd
2012
"Sports-Related Brain Injuries." Encyclopædia
Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition.Encyclopædia
Britannica, Inc., 2012. Web. 23
Mar. 2012.
<http://school.eb.com/eb/article-302840>.
"Sports-Related Brain Injuries." Encyclopædia
Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2012. Web. 23 Mar.
2012.
<http://school.eb.com/eb/article-302839>.
"No debate on this: man-games lost to concussions on the
upswing." Globe & Mail [Toronto, Canada] 13 Mar. 2012: S1. Gale
Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 23 Mar. 2012
Whiteside, Kelly. "'Concussions Are No Fun'." USA
TODAY. 28 Dec 2010: C.1. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 29 Mar 2012.
