Football Concussions

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Concussions and Football Helmets Football is one of America’s most watched and played sports. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays families across the nation watch as high school, college, and professional athletes compete against one another. What a lot of people do not know is that football is America’s most dangerous sport. It is very rare to watch a game not have it be stopped for some sort of injury. One of the most common and dangerous injuries is a concussion. Most people do not think twice about a concussion and think it’s not a serious injury, but it is. It is a silent killer and symptoms may never show up in somebody that has one, so they keep on playing and worsening their condition. Many people have debated whether to get rid of football…show more content…
A concussion is a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that is caused by a blow to the head or body, or another injury that jars the brain inside the skull (Concussion Topic). Most people think that the skull is hard enough to protect the brain but the skull can only take so much of the impact. Your brain is a soft organ that is surrounded by cerebrospinal fluid that acts as a cushion when your brain bangs into your skull but, if your brain is hit hard enough it will crash into your skull and bu injured (Concussion Topic). Concussions are very tricky to diagnose because most of the time there will be no visible signs of brain damage or no symptoms will occur right away, so it is very important to keep an eye on someone who may have a concussion. There are many symptoms that a concussion will cause, some are not thinking clearly, not being able to concentrate, nausea and vomiting, fuzzy or blurry vision, sadness, more emotional, and sleeping less or more (Concussion Topic). If someone you know develops any of these symptoms, it is very important for you to take them to the doctor right away. Once you get medical help most of the doctors will give you pain meds and tell you to get plenty of rest and during this time it will be important to avoid alcohol and physically demanding activities (Concussion…show more content…
Football is the most common sport to have a concussion with a 75 percent chance a getting one during a game or practice (Concussions Facts). Also, high school football accounts for 47 percent of all sports related concussions (Sports Concussion). With this information most parents would not let their child play football but they do, and, the facts only get worse. Most concussions deliver 95 g’s to the human body, the average football player gets hit during a game with 103 g’s (Denver). To put that in comparison the average g-force experienced by a military fighter jet pilot is 9 g’s (Denver). So when you let your child play football you are letting them getting hit 12 times the g-force than what a jet pilot would experience. When you let your child play high school or college football, there is a twice as likely chance that you he will sustain a concussion (High School). High school football players also suffer 11.2 concussions for every 10,000 games and practices (High School). Also in the NFL, the number of concussions increases 20 percent each year (Saul). According an HBO Real Sports/Marist poll the reason why most kids sustain concussions is because they take a big hit to the head and never come out (High School). “Youth Profess that the game and team are more important than their individual health and that they may play through a concussion to avoid letting
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