Head Injuries in youth sports

[jen_nah]

Originally Posted by Rat

I've read that soccer concussions are pretty well on the same level as football concussions now, with girls more vulnerable to them. The challenge with concussion statistics is that they've been traditionally underreported for reasons described above, though recent news, studies and incidents have shed more light and increased awareness of the issue.

My son just suffered a concussion playing soccer at school (in addition to hurting his knee). While a CT scan at the ER that night revealed no issues, this was his fourth one in the past four years.

He had a baseline cognitive test done in the sports medicine practice at Children's Medical Center last fall so we'll likely have him retake that same test and compare results to see if we need to make any difficult decisions about his future playing the sport. At that time of his baseline testing (which was several months after his third concussion), the doctor told us that the susceptibility of concussions increases considerably with each successive incident.

Before relegating him to the band or some low-impact sport, we're gonna try the headgear route. Looking at this model (www.full90.com). Jen_nah, I saw you mention your daughter wears it as a keeper -- that oughta help in the event she's kicked by attackers trying to poach a loose ball. Anyone else try them in soccer?

Rat,

I see a bunch of girls wearing the head gear now days but must say I haven't seen any boys wearing them. It's a shame because if a $50 head gear helps lower the risk I am all for it. I actually just told dh that we needed to get another one for our younger dd who also plays competitive soccer. She mostly plays offense (center forward/outside mid) but lately has been playing back up keeper.

I can say I am glad my older dd wears one. Back in October she had her wrist fractured due to player kicking at the ball while she was on the ground in possession of the ball. We were luck it was her wrist on not her head as she had her arms extended over her head/face for protection.

[Drivin'tooFast]

I saw a great one last night during the spring football game. College scout was out there scouting a few players and did not see the coffin corner punt unleashed with a 25 MPH tailwind. That badboy clocked the scout right in the eye orbit.

Now THAT is how you get a D1 scholarship and the scouts to notice you. That video is going to be on youtube in a couple of days and it will be VIRAL.

[ThisCharmingMan]

Front page article in the USA Today about head injuries and youth sports. Showed an 8 year old boy and his mom just chomping at the bit to put a helmet on him and let him rip at football.

Things are going to be changing once the trial attorneys get busy.

[Rat]

Originally Posted by jen_nah

Rat,

I see a bunch of girls wearing the head gear now days but must say I haven't seen any boys wearing them. It's a shame because if a $50 head gear helps lower the risk I am all for it. I actually just told dh that we needed to get another one for our younger dd who also plays competitive soccer. She mostly plays offense (center forward/outside mid) but lately has been playing back up keeper.

I can say I am glad my older dd wears one. Back in October she had her wrist fractured due to player kicking at the ball while she was on the ground in possession of the ball. We were luck it was her wrist on not her head as she had her arms extended over her head/face for protection.

If you've never seen a Chelsea match, you've probably not seen their keeper, Petr Cech, wearing his rather signature headgear, which is really a rugby headguard with reinforced padding along the sides. He had suffered a potentially fatal head injury & skull fracture when an opponents knee caught him in the side of the head and has worn the head protection ever since. Probably not practical for outfield players, but for keepers, who are at increased risk, it sure makes sense.

Regarding the Full 90 gear I posted on earlier, I did a little more reading up on it, they say it reduces impact by up to 50% from the most common head collisions -- head to head/head to other bony body part -- but not the normal head-to-ball impacts. I say "up to 50%" impact reduction is much better than zero protection, especially for players who are concussion prone.

[spidermac]

So, I have been reading all of the posts here…and I wanted to see what all the “hype” was about. Not to minimize the subject at all, concussions (Traumatic Brain Injuries) are real and are scary. But why all of the excitement about them now? Get to that in a minute…

So I consulted Google, and found myself at the CDC’s website. Poked around a bit and saw some articles that reference some studies and I started reading…

And I found something interesting…the recreational activity kids aged 5-18 were engaged in that caused the most TBI’s (Traumatic Brain Injuries) was bicycling. Not football, not hockey, bicycling…also “scoring” high on the list was “playground” activity.

So I read some more…and I discovered something else…of the kids that needed to be hospitalized for their TBI’s, the activity that caused the TBI most often was bicycling.

Where is the outrage for Bicycles? For Teeter Totters? Why isn’t the press reporting on the evils of Schwin and Mongoose? Why are there not a class action suits against all of the public schools for having Monkey Bars on their playgrounds? Or McDonald’s for having those dangerous tubes in their playgrounds? Oh, that’s right, McDonalds already had their share of frivolous law suits for serving hot coffee and making our children fat…never mind…

Once again, am not trying to trivialize the subject…but why the outcry? Why now?

Well, there are a couple of reasons, in my opinion.

1. We are smarter, okay, maybe not smarter…we have more knowledge. And knowledge is a good thing. Knowledge allows us to make informed decisions about the activities our children engage in. Knowledge also does some other things. It changes our culture and our markets. I am going to use football as my main example, because that is the youth sport I am most familiar with. Riddell, Schutt and Xentith (helmet manufacturers) are changing the designs of the helmets to make them safer. Their designs disperse the energy of impacts away from the athlete’s head. Why did they do this? Because they have more knowledge than they did even 10 years ago. The NFL, NCAA, UIL, NFHSS, Pop Warner and independent leagues are making rule changes regarding player safety, especially the head? Why? Because they have knowledge that they did not used to have. Coaches are being trained to recognize a TBI when one occurs and the correct action to take when one does occur…there is no more “you just got your bell rung, let me know when you are ready to go back in”. Knowledge can be used for nefarious purposes as well…which segues nicely into number 2.
2. MONEY – Why are former NFL players suing? Money. Football is big business from youth all the way up to the NFL. The NFL should have “known” the game was dangerous to us. Maybe, maybe not. But if they should have known, isn’t also reasonable to assume you also should have known? My husband became depressed and became a drug addict and died young and you should have known…much more compelling than my kid was riding his bicycle with no hands, hit a rock and banged his head on the curb…there are also companies out there that are preying on our knowledge and the fear created by that knowledge. They are marketing products that have “fuzzy” science behind them, telling you if you don’t buy this product your kid will not be safe. Why would they do this? MONEY.

Wandering around a little bit here…but back to the study from the CDC’s website…some of the conclusions I drew…kids ages 5-18 bang their heads a lot, regardless of the activity they are involved in. Boys are more apt to bang their heads than girls are (perhaps we need a study to tell us why that is).

Youth sports have a lot of things to offer our children. Can they get hurt while participating in them? Yes. Are the risks greater than the reward? In my opinion, no, they are not. I am not going to bubble wrap my children to keep them “safe”. I am going to use my knowledge to make informed decisions and help them make the correct decisions about what they do participate in. Soccer, yup, football, yup, softball/baseball, yup…but absolutely no bikes or teeter totters!

[FactsRFacts]

Football is #1 in head Concussions, but according to updated news (Women's) Soccer is #2. Rock Center did a show on this, which can be viewed and read here:

http://rockcenter.msnbc.msn.com/_new...ls-soccer?lite

One of the former USWNT players, Brandi Chastain, also discusses the proper way for players to protect themselves (relating to heading the ball properly) here:

http://rockcenter.msnbc.msn.com/_new...hemselves?lite

[spidermac]

Originally Posted by FactsRFacts

Football is #1 in head Concussions, but according to updated news (Women's) Soccer is #2. Rock Center did a show on this, which can be viewed and read here:

http://rockcenter.msnbc.msn.com/_new...ls-soccer?lite

One of the former USWNT players, Brandi Chastain, also discusses the proper way for players to protect themselves (relating to heading the ball properly) here:

http://rockcenter.msnbc.msn.com/_new...hemselves?lite

The study referenced on the Rock Center was for athletes aged 15 to 24, I think the original poster was speaking of youth sports, younger kids...but good information nonetheless.

[Rat]

I've heard there's a follow up report this Thursday. My son's outgoing club coach gave me a heads up (no pun intended) on it. Apparently they'll be focusing on the headgear aspect of it.

I picked up a Full90 premier headguard for my son on Saturday from Soccer City. This is I believe our last resort before he hangs up his cleats if he suffers another concussion. His doctor, a pediatric sports medicine specialist, checked him out last week and suggested he give up playing even though he's shown no appreciable lingering cognitive effects of his latest dinger. We're doing a follow up test this week and will determine the extent to which we follow that advice.

I can certainly appreciate the doctor taking a conservative approach to concussions on one hand; on the other, that recommendation could be more than a little self-serving. Is he covering his butt just a little bit (no one wants to be the doctor that encourages a kid to go back to playing only to have him suffer another head injury that has more lasting effects).

It's a very tricky decision for us as his parents; one that we're not taking lightly. He only has one brain to last the rest of his life.

[4leg'd mom]

the follow up on RockCenter was pretty interesting. 12 separate concussion specialists studied the Full90 and all agreed that it did not live up to the claims on the packaging. You can bottom out the "protection" between your fingers. Also, all the girls interviewed all said that they feel they can play harder wearing the headband. The girl from Allen had some pretty scary consequences.

I was surprised that one of the preventative measures was neck strengthening exercises.

[Piiilot]

Originally Posted by 4leg'd mom

the follow up on RockCenter was pretty interesting. 12 separate concussion specialists studied the Full90 and all agreed that it did not live up to the claims on the packaging. You can bottom out the "protection" between your fingers. Also, all the girls interviewed all said that they feel they can play harder wearing the headband. The girl from Allen had some pretty scary consequences.

I was surprised that one of the preventative measures was neck strengthening exercises.

Anyone know if the school programs are looking at any concussion education ? Sounds the parents are the ones that need the most education. I have a soccer player (not a school player) but our coach doesn't really discuss the topic.