Head Injuries and Contact Sports

This article discusses a study of 200 donated brains of football players, 100 were from the NFL:

https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/25/16025146/chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy-football-cognition-health

All but one of the NFL brains showed signs of brain damage.  

There is likely some bias in the sample. The theory is that people who are willing to donate the bodies of loved ones tend to be those who are concerned about the issue.

Anyone seen evidence of the effects of impact on kids or adults they know?

This is a great article on head injuries.

https://www.outsideonline.com/2108551/impact-zone

I've had somewhere around 12 or 15 good concussions. The last three were bad and have left me scared to have any more.

My oldest daughter is just 15 and has had 3 in 3 years from hits in the head with balls either while playing or randomly getting hit in the schoolyard. She is definitely anxious about getting another.

RA I had forgotten this applied to you so personally and never knew how many injuries you'd had.

It made me remember I've had some impacts too.

I had at least one serious injury that I know of, head first into a cement barrier in 4th grade, out cold for probably an hour.  I know I also had a pretty bad bike accident, now that I think about it, smacked my head and really just went home, barely even told my parents about it.

In the article RA posted, the accident with MTB star Catherine Harnden happened at Sir Sam's one of SBRs local hills.

An hour!? I've never done anything like that. That's really scary!

raisingarizona wrote

An hour!? I've never done anything like that. That's really scary!

I mean I'm assuming.  Oddly, we never really talked about it. I remember cracking my head and the next thing I remember I heard voices and I was in the hospital, but not really conscious or able to respond.

I kind of want to talk to my mom about it, to find out what they were thinking.

I only had 4 or 5 growing up, but that article (and many like it) scare the shit out of me.

I love football, but I'm not sure (if I had a kid), I'd let my kid play.

I wouldn't want my kid to play.  From what I'm reading no amount of helmet technology will  fix football.  The key is to start full contact as late in life as possible.  Or not at all.

Excellent article, thanks for posting. It definitely explains some of the symptoms of one of my colleague, who has been chronically "sick" since a serious car accident two years ago. Migraines, grumpiness, erratic behavior, etc. He is not helping himself by eating crap food and smoking lots of dope.

As for me, I have had three minor (?) concussions in my life, all via action and non-contact sport. Unless you count contact with my own knee (bump skiing as a teenager); contact with rock (lead fall rock-climbing) or hard snow (heelside crash while snowboarding). It is hard to know how/if these incidents have affected me but I definitely have bad short-term memory and trouble focusing on task.

With the implementation of Heads Up tackling, football is changing for the better.
It's like doing a study on 200 hardcore skier's knees.

MC2 5678F589 wrote

I only had 4 or 5 growing up

Only??  Wow.  I've had 2, both about 6 months apart when I was 17.  You were either a badass or really pissed off a badass.

D.B. Cooper wrote

MC2 5678F589 wrote

I only had 4 or 5 growing up

Only??  Wow.  I've had 2, both about 6 months apart when I was 17.  You were either a badass or really pissed off a badass.

Or just clumsy AF

raisingarizona wrote

This is a great article on head injuries.

https://www.outsideonline.com/2108551/impact-zone

I've had somewhere around 12 or 15 good concussions. The last three were bad and have left me scared to have any more.

DAMN!!!

You remind me of a buddy from HS ---- long story short, he was an incredible wrestler. Was offered a full ride scholarship to Penn State. He turned it down because according to his Doc's if he were to get another concussion he had a high chance of being left blind.

I've had 4 concussions in my lifetime

1 from skiing

3 from playing hoops

by far the worst one was playing hoops

I was only ever diagnosed once, not serious, but I think I may have had another two or three over the years, playing football and skiing. I probably wouldn't want my kids to play football at this point, even though I did. Our rec soccer program has now banned heading the ball compltely, games and practice both

In a league that I know of, 6 kids out of 1500 had concussions in 2015.

Concussions were a part of growing up around were I lived.   I don't know how many I had because you did not go to the hospital for them.  Shake out the cob webs and keep on trucking.  From the time I can remember up until I was 30 would get them regularly.  I can see the signs in myself of having a problem but to late now.  Take good notes and don't beat yourself up to badly when you cant remember things.  

Oh and don't let your kids play football with gear.   Football without gear is way safer.  

Youth football participation is dropping over the last decade.
http://www.vocativ.com/298019/youth-football-participation-is-plummeting/

My town and the towns around me (in NJ) are starting to have trouble fielding football teams in the grade school and middle school levels. Besides the head issue, football practice/game schedule is 5 days a week for as long as 2 hours a day for the 5/6 and 7/8 grades. The other option in the fall, soccer, is a lot less time consuming at the rec level and a lot safer and easier to figure out. The success of soccer at the youth level is fueling the slow success of soccer in the USA at the pro level.

While the big hits that lead to concussions seem to be blamed for the current issue, there are also many opinions that the cumulative hits might be the cause. There is nothing that will save players from this problem short of getting rid of helmets, forcing players to protect their heads by avoiding head contact, somewhat like rugby. Ultimately, the object of football is to hit your opponent. Sports with hitting, like hockey and lacrosse, still allow everybody to handle the puck or ball and anybody can score.

Personally I'd feel bad for a kid who wasn't allowed to play any sport for fear of getting hurt. That would suck.