Dangers Of Head Trauma In Sports

In 2014 the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge swept the nation and children, teens, and adults of all ages were participating in what seemed like a fun activity to support a cause no one knew about. ALS, or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is a neurodegenerative brain disease that affects the motor skills in a person. ALS is most commonly seen athletes due to multiple hits to the head and concussions. ALS, CTEs, and concussions are being more and more recognized as result of athletes being diagnosed with these diseases and in many cases, dying. However, sports organizations should be doing more to educate parents, athletes, and coaches about the dangers of head trauma and ways it can be prevented as well as improving equipment used by athletes..

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Head trauma is any sort of injury to the brain, skull, or scalp. A concussion is a result of head trauma and is defined as temporary unconsciousness due to a blow to the head or a violent shock from a heavy blow. Some symptoms of head injuries and concussion include noise/light sensitivity, difficulty focusing, and drowsiness. An example of someone who got a concussion and its effects is a girl named Sarah from an article called Students in High School with Concussions. Sarah played on the varsity soccer team as a goalie and one day at practice while blocking the ball with her head she received a concussion. After the incident, she needed to take time off of school due to difficulty focusing, it took her four months to recover. Once she returned, she was put on a 504 plan, a plan designed to ensure students are accommodated for disabilities. As a result of not only students like Sarah but professional athletes as well, all 50 states have passed concussion safety laws that require athletes, parents, and coaches to be educated on concussions. These laws also mandate any athlete suspected of having a concussion be immediately taken out of a game or practice. Athletes suspected of having a concussion will take a baseline, a basic cognitive test used to determine the condition of an athlete. A baseline test of every athlete on a team is required to be on file before the beginning of a season to use a reference. The test consist of simple tasks such as saying the months backwards, that would normally be simple, but for a person with a concussion may be very difficult. These precautions were employed to prevent second impact syndrome, which happens when a first concussion is not taken care of properly taken care of, can cause brain