Concussions in sports
Over 1.4 million people in the United States are hospitalized every year with traumatic brain injury and over 57 million on a global scale suffer from issues related to traumatic brain injury. Also, 20 percent of the patients that suffer from traumatic brain injury are as a result of concussions suffered from sporting injuries (Cantu et al 133). According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, there are over 1.6 million treated cases and 3.8 million untreated concussion cases that are related to sports in the United States every year (Cantu et al 133). As a result, more research has sought to identify how concussions occur among athletes, their effects, and measures that can be taken to reduce their occurrence as well as helping the patients manage their condition.
Concussions refer to mild traumatic injuries to the brain that pose various health risks to the patient if left untreated or in the occurrence of more trauma to the brain. They are common in different types of sports such as rugby, American football, and boxing to mention a few. The high number of athletes that have concussions is greatly attributed to the lack of sufficient information regarding concussions and how they affect athletes (Cantu et al 135). Furthermore, all athletes are at risk of having a concussion regardless of the role they play or what age the traumatic brain injury occurs. According to Hartl et al (170), concussions expose athletes to various health risks other than traumatic brain injury. An athlete who loses consciousness for over thirty minutes after the traumatic brain injury is at risk of contracting Alzheimer’s disease. if left untreated for more than two hours, amyloid proteins begin to develop and this exposes the athlete to more health risks the longer the concussion remains untreated. While early treatment may help to limit the effect that concussions have on athletes, there is also the issue of repeated traumatic brain injuries (Hartl et al 170). Athletes in high contact sports like American football and soccer are constantly at risk of getting concussions. While some of the concussions that occur during such games are mild and the athletes require little time to recover, repeated head trauma, even if it does not cause severe brain injury, exposes the athletes to various psychological and cognitive issues (Hartl et al 171). Despite this, however, athletes continue to participate in sports and get multiple concussions which attribute to the deteriorating state of their health especially after they finish their career. The tendency of players returning to the field too soon after a concussion has greatly contributed to the various health issues that are displayed by ex-football players and other athletes.
American football is responsible for about 250000 concussions every year with 20 percent of athletes in high school football experiencing at least one concussion every year (Cantu et al 134). Research by the Sports medicine research laboratory at the University of North Carolina revealed that 888 athletes out of the 17549 who participated in the study had experienced at least one concussion in a season and that 131 of them had a concussion the following year (Cantu et al 134). The study also revealed that athletes in Division III and high school were more likely to get concussions compared to athletes in Division I and II. While the severity of the concussion may differ across age groups and different sports, the likelihood of the concussions reoccurring means that all athletes are at risk of the serious health issues attributed to concussions and traumatic brain injuries.
The frequency of concussions in sports combined with the health risks that such injuries expose athletes to has led to the development of different measures to try and control their occurrence and guide athletes on what steps to take. In 2007 for example, The National Football League’s policy was implemented to enable medical professionals to examine players who got injured during games on the field instead of waiting till the individual could get to a hospital (Hudson 29). The policy employed the use of a side-line concussion exam where athletes who had sustained injuries to the head were required to perform a series of tests that monitored their balance, thinking, and level of concentration after the trauma. Assessment tests were also introduced and athletes were expected to fill symptoms checklists; undergo a neurological exam, balance assessment, and cognitive evaluation before being allowed back to the field after having a concussion. Players that were allowed back to the field after a concussion were also to be monitored closely to determine if they were fit to continue playing or required more treatment.
Other measures that have been put in place to protect athletes from concussions is the return to play process that utilizes five steps that seek to ease the athlete back into the field after sustaining an injury. After a concussion, the first step is rest and recovery. The athlete is given time from duty and instructed to rest to speed up the recovery process. The time allowed for rest and recovery depends on the nature of the injury as well as how fast the individual takes to recover (LaFond 1). After rest and recovery, the athlete moves to the second step which is light aerobic exercise. The activities in the second step help the athlete to regain some functioning capability after the injury. The third step is continued aerobic exercise where the activities are a bit more strenuous and help the athlete to regain strength and muscle control. The fourth stage is the football-specific activities where the athletes engage in mild sporting training that emulate the activities that go on in the field during a real game (LaFond 1). The activities are however less strenuous and held the individual to adjust to the field after the concussion. Finally, the individual moves to the final stage, full football activity where the patient is allowed to participate in competitive games. The individual can be eased into the matches as a substitute to limit the time spend doing strenuous activities until fully healed.
The measures put in place to prevent athletes from going back to the field after a concussion are intended to help the athlete and facilitate faster recovery. However, there are occurrences where the athletes or their coaches opt to overlook the safety measures and continue to play even with traumatic brain injuries. Since the effects of a concussion take long to develop, some athletes may fail to reveal the intensity of their injuries in an attempt to keep playing. This is especially common in major games such as finals or when trying to gain the attention of recruiters during games. In such cases, the athlete may withhold information about the nature of the injury sustained during a previous game or in-game from the medical personnel and coach. Some may even continue playing without seeking in-field medical assistance to prevent the team doctors from assessing the nature of their injury (Goldberg 387). On the side of the coach, the decision may be made to keep the injured player in play especially when the injury or concussion is deemed mild. The coach may be relying on the injured player to make important calls or score goals that will lead the team to victory. In some games, the contribution from one player could determine whether the team wins or loses and this may prompt the coach to keep such individuals on the field even after getting a concussion (Goldberg 388). Although some concussions are not severe, the risk that recurring concussions pose to athletes makes such decisions too risky as the coach or team doctor may not be aware of the dangers the new concussion may pose for the athlete in the long run.
The lack of sufficient information regarding concussions has greatly contributed to the lack of seriousness by team doctors and coaches when dealing with injured athletes. The effects are however more severe for younger players compared to adults because they take longer periods to recover. When an athlete gets a concussion, the negative effects that they will experience are dependent on the treatment method used and how long the individual goes without getting another concussion (Cantu et al 138). In the case of adults, the effects may not be as severe especially if enough time is taken between one concussion and the next. If the individual is given enough time to recover, the state of their health makes them resistant to some of the medical complications attributed to concussions. In the case of young athletes, however, the long period taken before recovery places them at a higher risk because they are more likely to encounter another concussion immediately after, or even before they recover from the previous one. Physical sports like American football and soccer expose the athletes to constant risks and are therefore more likely to be affected by concussions.
There is the common misconception that the athlete is fully recovered from the concussion once they are allowed back on the field. While the treatments used to play a major role in helping the player to heal from the injury and return to the field, coaches, athletes, and other stakeholders must learn to view concussions as challenges that affect more than the individual’s ability to perform in their respective sports (McKeever & Schatz 9). Concussions can also affect people’s cognitive function, school life, and even their social relationships. While the recovery would suggest that the player is fit to return to the field, concussions may also expose the players to risks that affect their brain function and how they process information. For young athletes, concussions may make it difficult for the individual to keep up with other aspects of their life such as schoolwork. The inability to process information may make it difficult for the athlete to grasp information given during lectures and this could negatively impact their school performance (Fong 1). Impaired brain functions may also affect how the individual interacts with friends, their moods, and reaction to events and this will ultimately harm their social life. Assessment of the impact that concussion has on athletes should therefore be extended to all aspects of their life such as school and social life rather than limiting it to how the athlete performs on the field.
To achieve this, caregivers, coaches, and parents should try to understand the signs and symptoms associated with concussions as well as how to ensure that enough recovery time is given to athletes before they are allowed back on the field. While there are a lot of symptoms attributed to concussions, some appear immediately after the injury while others take longer periods to develop. Symptoms that take longer to develop are likely to cause more harm if the athlete is allowed back on the field and encounters another injury (Fong 1). While the damage may not affect their ability to play, some long-term effects like memory loss may intensify the more the player gets injured and cause serious problems in the long run. Instead of approaching concussions as a challenge that limits the players functioning capability on the field, there is a need for more emphasis on other effects that impair other aspects of the individual’s life in general. Some of the common effects of concussions include drowsiness; chronic headaches; memory loss; difficulty in speaking; depression; and disrupted sleeping patterns.
Concussions that athlete encounter during their time as professionals continue to affect their lives even after they retire. While some concussions have short recovery periods, repeated concussions cause major problems and may even lead to death in the long run. Some athletes have been diagnosed with neurological disorders like chronic traumatic encephalopathy, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson's disease. some concussions, especially when repetitive also affect the player’s motor skills and cause movement disorders that make it difficult to perform simple tasks such as walking or running (Meehan 47). Football players who return to the field with impaired sensory-motor function after suffering from a concussion are more at risk of getting musculoskeletal injuries that could disrupt their careers as athletes. According to Meehan (23), 14 percent of deaths among athletes younger than 21 years old are attributed to trauma-related injuries sustained through sports. In football, 93 percent of deaths related to trauma sustained from sporting injuries involved trauma to the head or neck. Furthermore, football players that have had 3 or more concussions are more likely to suffer a concussion, thereby making the risk of repeat concussions more intense for players that have already been injured. This is especially because repeat concussions have a 91.7 percent more chance of sustaining another injury within 10 days of the previous concussion (Cantu et al 133). The frequency in which these concussions reoccur poses athletes at a higher risk because, while some of the concussions may be mild, the short period between injuries exposes the individual to more risks that damage the brain and could affect the patient in different ways including extending the recovery period and how long the symptoms last.
Recommendations
The American Academy of Paediatrics advises coaches and team doctors to ensure that athletes, especially the young, be evaluated and properly examined to determine if they are ready to return to the field after a concussion. Doctors responsible for clearing the athletes must be trained on the best approaches to manage the patient’s condition and assess their level of recovery before allowing the patient back on the field (NRC 17). The information will help to ensure that the players are given enough time to recover and thereby reduce the impact that another concussion will have if it occurs. There is also the need for more research on the effects that concussions have on athletes both on and off the field. While most injuries will affect the athlete’s ability to play, concussions also interfere with other aspects of the athlete’s life. Young players who are under-recovery for instance miss out on school work and social life (Cantu et al 133). While recovery will make it easier to get back in the field, re-occurrence could affect the athlete’s academic performance, cognitive function, and even how they communicate. Recovery should therefore be structured such that it focuses on the athlete’s overall health rather than their ability to go back to the field.
Conclusion
Athletes, like other human beings, deserve to work in safe and ideal working environments. Concerning physical sports, relevant stakeholders have a responsibility to ensure that the athletes are protected from most, if not all, health risks that are associated with their profession. Since contact sports expose athletes to various types of injuries that can result in concussions, there is a need for new protective measures to reduce the frequency of such injuries and their effects. Coaches, athletes, and other stakeholders must learn how to protect players from challenges that arise from concussions. Other than promoting fair play, there is also a need to educate the relevant parties on the impact that concussions have on the individual’s overall health and also how to go about limiting the re-occurrence of concussions. This will ensure that all the parties involved have enough information to protect themselves from such injuries and seek help whenever injured to reduce the effect that concussions will have in the long run.
Work cited
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