I wanted to make this blog post about concussions in high school football players. I think that there isn't enough emphasis on how easily an adolescent can get a concussion from a sport and so with this blog site I would like to delve into football specifically, and how much it contributes to the concussion prevalence rate. I would also like to discuss: how high school football players get them, the prevalence rate in different sports, how we can prevent them from happening, and finally, how to treat them if they do happen.
What is a concussion?
A concussion is a form of traumatic brain injury (TBI) that is caused by something hitting the head. Concussions are usually mild and don't impact the daily lives of a person too much however they still need to be treated. When a concussion occurs it is typically because the brain gets moved around in the head, which can lead to bruising and scar tissue. In the picture below some of the symptoms of concussions are shown, as well as what actually happens to the brain during a concussion.
What is the concussion prevalence rates for football (in high school)? According to the National Federation of State High School Association high school football players have an average of 11.2 concussions per 10,000 exposures.
Prevalence Rate Compared
Youth can commonly get concussions if they play an intense sport or even if they just play it a couple of times per week. A review showed that up to 3.8 million recreation and sports-related concussions occur each year in the United States. The sport with the highest risk of getting a concussion for high schoolers is football. For girls' sports the rate of concussion is higher in soccer and basketball. Girls have a higher rate of getting a concussion than boys do when they are playing the same sport.
Why is high school football's rate so high?
The concussion rate of high schoolers playing football is so high because high school players are usually less physically developed and smaller than college players or professionals. Also, high school football players are more likely to play rough and not use the correct techniques.
A unique research study was performed by putting in force transducers into the player's helmets to measure the force impact during the season. Steven Broglio, Ph.D. has shown that the average high school football player sustains 650 hits per season. A concussion will usually happen with a 90-100 gram force which is equivalent to a head hitting a wall at 20 mph without a helmet.
Prevention and treatments
Coaches and players both have different roles to take when a high school football player on their team gets a concussion. Some of the prevention techniques are:
- learning and understanding the proper tackling techniques (one of these being the "heads up" technique)
-properly fitted helmets and mouth guards ( this is important as most concussions occur from rotational movement of the head)
-educating players about the signs and symptoms of a concussion so that they can learn how to treat themselves
Other treatment options include:
- physical and mental rest
- avoid too much activity
-Acetaminophen and NSAID's pharmacological treatment may help with symptoms (however there is no treatment that is shown to improve outcomes)
How does this theme tie into youth injury prevention?
The theme of this post is Concussion prevalence in high school football and with this post, I wanted to inform the readers of what type of injury was trying to be prevented (concussions) and give possible treatments and prevention techniques to stop them from occurring. I chose football specifically because for highschoolers that is where there is the highest risk for a concussion to occur.
For more information:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/1148388#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20most%20common,in%20high%20school%20is%20football.
https://fulshearathletics.com/how-common-are-concussions-in-high-school-football/#:~:text=According%20to%20a%20recent%20study,(2020).
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/concussion#:~:text=An%20important%20part%20of%20treatment,if%20you%20have%20a%20headache.
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