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 2^nd 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.