Kiana Alihossini
Feb 18th, 2017
ENGL- Comp II
Monday COM class
Epidemic of Sports Concussions
Sports concussions have affected a large percentage of athletes around the world.
The well- known epidemic concussions are head/brain injuries that occur when a “blow
to the head happens” that causes the brain to shake after it’s been hit against the skull.
OrthoInfo provides research that says 200,000 athletes a year in just our country suffer
from head injuries that are later diagnosed as concussions and this is a large number of
people that range in age and level of the sport they play (Wayne). Most sports today are
played in a way that is very easy to get hurt in and a fall or push to the ground head first
is all it takes to suffer in a head injury. Concussions come with many side effects due to
how sensitive the brain is and will affect the person injured in various ways, depending
on age, location of concussion and more factors due to the brain tissue accelerating
causing the brain to damage cells as the Concussion Legacy Foundation explains
(Learning Center).
Because of how well known sports are all over, there is a long history of sports
concussions that was recorded. Newspapers in America first printed about the importance
of helmets and their safety in 1905 and later an outbreak of Second Impact Syndrome or
“SIS” was discovered (Concussion Prevention). The SIS was understood as the second
and much worse concussion a person gets when the side effects of the first one are not
taken seriously and ignored, which they are still suffering from. The University of
Oregon has done research of the timeline of major improvements to head injury
prevention and August of 2013 was when the National Football League (NFL) agrees to
pay millions of dollars to the lawsuit that claimed they hid the dangers of football to
make an increase in profit (1).
Another major association called the NCAA, which is the National Collegiate
Athletic Association, has a timeline that distinctively shows the progress the foundation
has made in concussion protocols and spreading awareness for it. 1906 records show that
the Intercollegiate Athletic Association was first founded to protect athletes during their
time of practice and official games; and President Roosevelt established and reformed
safety standards for college athletes (Think Progress). In the end of 1937, American
Football Coaches Association had a meeting about the NCAA for allowing players to
continue to play football right after a concession to the head. Twenty seven years later,
the NCAA acknowledged the dangers of concessions and wrote them in the Medical
Handbook for schools to follow its serious rules about the head injury.
The National Football League, also known as the NFL, has been known to have a
history with concessions all well. This national league created a committee in 1994 to
focus attention on mild traumatic brain injuries and each following year, rules have been
updated that strengthen their outlook on concussions during the season (Frontline). These
organizations have shown how much security and information on concussions have been
updated as time went on to ensure athletes are safe and do not suffer from this head
injury.
There are many famous athletes that have suffered from this terrible epidemic of
concussions that have even ended some sports careers. Mike Cameron was an outfielder,
for the Mets, and he collided with another baseball player and Cameron ended up losing
his vision temporarily along with breaking his cheekbones (NewsDay). He luckily
recovered and began playing again in the next season after sitting out for the rest of the
last one. Another athlete that was also injured in the head was Jahvid Best, a former NFL
player who now is an Olympic track runner. In his 2011 season with the Detroit Lions,
Best suffered from numerous concessions in a single season which led to him being put
on injured reserve and was later released by Detroit (Laird). The injuries to his head
prevented him from returning back to the field, so he began training for the Summer
Olympics in 2016, where he competed in track and field. His athletic career did not end
because of the concussion because he was lucky enough to get well and use his strengths
in a different way.
The Pittsburg Penguin’s Sidney Crosby is another athlete who suffered from so
many head injuries that he may not return to play hockey again, unlike James Harden in
2012 when he was elbowed very hard in a game, but luckily he is back in basketball and
playing better than ever (NewsDay). Maurice Stokes was a well- known basketball player
around 1955 and he suffered from a concussion from hitting his head on the court. He
had a seizure, fell into a coma, and woke up paralyzed (Connolly). These examples show
how likely sports concussions are and there are certainly more well- known athletes that
have been affected by them because of how common they are. Even major law suits can
occur because of how serious the effects can be. Today, more people have been
diagnosed with concussions, and they all add on to the long history we have with the
topic.
The Head Case Company has received data on which sports experience the most
head concussions taking place per 100,000 exposures. Football is the highest, followed
by men’s ice hockey, then women’s soccer (Head Case). Because of how physical and
how these sports require running and running into other players in games and practices, it
is much easier to get a concussion compared to sports like gymnastics and volleyball,
which have the lowest concussion rates. Parents and coaches need to strategically
perform physical exams to ensure their athletes are safe playing the sports they love.
There are many effects that have come from this serious epidemic and they are the
reason why sports concussions are now taken more serious. There are also various health
factors that concussions can introduce in one’s life, short and long term. Long term
effects include athletes tending to show abnormal brain waves for approximately two
years after they experience the head injury (Krans). Studies have also shown that
attention span declines as well as memory when athletes suffer from concussions; even
depression is a serious factor that is a possible effect that occurs after this epidemic (3).
Short term effects include vomiting, confusion, headache, and nausea, but these side
effects should be taken just as seriously as the long term ones. They are all important to
be aware of and to look for when a serious head injury has occurred.
There is an obvious solution to the epidemic of sports concussions and that is to be
careful. Athletes should take extra precautions when training and in a game because you
cannot ever be too careful. Correct headgear for certain sports are required to protect the
skull and brain from damage and they need to be ensured that they are worn correctly at
all times. Dave Marver, CEO of VICIS, thinks a solution to these injuries would be
getting “better equipment, changing of the rules and better coaching”(Heatherington). It
is very important that the safety of all athletes is being a topic in the sports worlds, but
some do fear about the money that is needed to improve head gear and staffing as Marver
explained; the VICIS company has reached out to over 50 teams and programs to get
more inputs on look and feel of new headgear (Hetherington). The NFL has also changed
their rules to prevent players’ heads becoming targets in games and spent a significant
amount of money researching and purchasing prevention products to help this epidemic
as best they can.
Bed rest is also vital to helping with this head injury. It is important to keep off of
video games, television, computers, and anything else that is very bright and does not
help keep the mind at rest. Kids need to refrain from these, although it may be addicting
so it will be difficult to take a week off from playing or watching off a screen. A break
from physical activity also helps the head recover. Medicine such as aspirin or pain
relievers can help with the pain, while sleep is a great method that can prevent nausea,
dizziness, or confusion. Another way to deal with sports concussions is to see your
doctor. Even though concussions can be self-diagnosed, it is always good to get a
doctor’s input on what to do. Recovery time depends on the concession and how bad the
brain was hurt, age, and how each person chooses to treat the concussion (Web MD).
Many who experience it become more aware, but other than that I believe people who
watch sports such as fans may be more educated about it than people who do not watch
them.
Spectators see their favorite athletes on famous teams get a major hit to the head
and watch the player sit out for the rest of the season, which is not fun to do. They learn
after seeing it and prevent it from happening to themselves or their teammates so they do
not also have to go through it. It should not have to take a person to watch someone
suffer from this to become educated, but it is what is happening. Many sports celebrities
have become spokes people for an activist group to get the word about concussions out to
the public. When fans see a well- known person speaking passionately about an important
topic, more attention is drawn and this is why there had been an increase in these types of
organizations.
When something is described as absurd, it is meant to have no purpose or moral to
learn from. It is for entertainment purposes and writers write this genre because it makes
no sense; similar to some sports concussions. Sports are designed to have fun, follow
rules, and to be safe all at the same time. That is what is so absurd of this topic; these
head injuries happen so frequently and should not when so much time and money is spent
on regulating rules to keep athletes safe. This continues to happen everywhere and as
more people become informed on the dangers of head injuries, you would think it would
make athletes be more cautious of their head gear, but it has not.
There is no reason why the number of concussions that occur each year should be
seen as any number seen on television- it is vital for athletes to understand so they do not
have to go through this epidemic. Because when you first get a concussion you are easily
exposed to get another, this increases the cases of this head injury for all athletes. It is
absurd that although concussions could be easy to get, people still do not take them
seriously, when it can even result in death.
Concussions are a frequent head injury that a lot of athletes suffer from when they
get a big hit to the head. The brain is a very important aspect of our body and controls all
our everyday actions and a concussion comes with many symptoms that make the head
feel exhausted and my cause nausea and amnesia. These occur so frequently, people do
not see them as important head injuries that we need to spend time thinking how we can
prevent them and that is what is absurd about it. The damage caused can vary depending
on how hard it was hit and how it is taken care of and more people should learn about it
to educate the public on how serious they can be so the number of instances occurring
each year can decrease and athletes can be safe and healthy. Many people all over the
world continue to worry about this epidemic as they continue to play the sports they love
so it is very shocking how much just educating yourself can do to make ones like safer.
Works Cited
Connolly, Maureen "The 25 Greatest Sports Careers Ruined by Injury20.." Complex. N.p., n.d. Web.
27 Feb. 2017.
<http://www.complex.com/sports/2012/10/the-25-greatest-sports-careers-ruined-
by-injury/sports-careers-ruined-by-injury-20>.
"Concussion Prevention." University of Oregon Sites. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2017.
<http://blogs.uoregon.edu/sboehmerf13gateway/timeline/>.
Heatherington, Mike. "The Solution to Football's Concussion Problem? - Article." TSN. N.p., 15 Feb. 2016.
<http://www.tsn.ca/the-solution-to-football-s-concussion-problem-1.436811>.Web. 09 Apr. 2017.
Krans, Brian | Published on February 21, 2013. "Effects of Concussions in Youth Sports Can Last For
Decades." Healthline. N.p., 21 Feb. 2013. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.
<http://www.healthline.com/health-news/mental-long-term-effects-of-youth-concussions-
022113>.
Laird, Sam. "Concussions Ended His Promising NFL Career, so He Became an Olympian
Instead." Mashable. Mashable, 21 July 2016. Web. 26 Feb. 2017.
<http://mashable.com/2016/07/21/jahvid-best-nfl-olympics/#DSEphI1Zt5q7>.
"Learning Center." Concussion Legacy Foundation. N.p., 17 Aug. 2016. Web. 26 Feb. 2017.
<http://concussionfoundation.org/learning-
center?gclid=Cj0KEQiAlsrFBRCAxcCB54XElLEBEiQA_ei0DNw1gZMRG-
qWX1IcA6houg_4zz_vTd0md3NPGzTOV5QaAomn8P8HAQ>.
Newsday June 22, 2012 5:05 PM. "Famous Sports Concussions." Newsday. N.p., 22 June 2012. Web.
26 Feb. 2017.
<http://www.newsday.com/sports/photos/famous-sports-concussions-
1.205309#1>.
ThinkProgress. "The NCAA's History With Concussions: A Timeline." ThinkProgress. ThinkProgress,
23 July 2013. Web. 26 Feb. 2017.
<https://thinkprogress.org/the-ncaas-history-with-concussions-
a-timeline-530a8c5af0df#.9tocbvoii>.
"Timeline: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis – League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis." PBS.
Public Broadcasting Service, n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2017.
<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sports/league-of-denial/timeline-the-nfls-concussion-
crisis/>.
Wayne, Sebastianelli J. "Sports Concussion-OrthoInfo - AAOS." Sports Concussion-OrthoInfo -
AAOS. AAOS, Dec. 2010. Web. 18 Feb. 2017.
<http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00574>.
Web MD "Topic Overview." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2017.
<http://www.webmd.com/brain/tc/traumatic-brain-injury-concussion-overview#1>.
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