Head injuries in sports

Glad to see the president is getting up to speed on head injuries (especially in children). I blogged about this 7 years ago. Welcome aboard, Mr. President. I didn't even have a scandal or two to cover up. http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2007/11/head-injuries-in-sports-columbus.html

Dr. [Daniel] Amen, who has seen over 30,000 brain scans, says: "I would not let my children hit a soccer ball with their heads, play tackle football, or snowboard without a helmet. I encourage my own kids to play tennis, golf, table tennis, and track. Your brain matters. Respect and protect it."

If an NFL players has also played little league, high school and college football, imagine the trauma to his brain.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-to-host-a-white-house-summit-on-growing-conerns-over-sports-head-injuries/2014/05/28/d49e48ae-e5ac-11e3-afc6-a1dd9407abcf_story.html

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/05/29/recalling-own-injuries-obama-calls-for-end-to-suck-it-up-culture-in-youth-sports/

TV pitch man Billy Mays dies

Every time he came on I’d turn to my husband and say, “Why does he always shout?” But he was the best known TV pitch man, and after a head bump on a rough landing, he later died. He was 50. We don’t know yet what happened, but those type of head injuries can be dangerous.

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Preventing Childhood Head Injuries

April is Prevent Child Abuse month, but children are injured every day in non-abuse situations that are just as damaging, particularly to the brain. I don't know if there is a Prevent Head Injuries in Kids Month (May is a Brain injuries awareness month but that's primarily for the elderly), but since these problems are more in the open (you can see them at local sporting events or playgrounds), our input or reporting might be more useful. These figures are actually low since they are based on ER statistics and don't include reports from individual doctors, or the children whose parents don't take them to a clinic or doctor.

The top 10 head injury categories among children ages 14 and younger:

Cycling: 34,359
Football: 14,626
Baseball and Softball: 11,835
Basketball: 11,682
Skateboards/Scooters: 10,538
Water Sports: 7,836
Powered Recreational Vehicles: 7,652
Soccer: 6,494
Trampolines: 6,007
Winter Sports: 4,874

Your child or grandchild should be using a proper helmet 100% of the time in many sports. Helmets and head gear come in many sizes and styles for many sports and must properly fit to provide maximum protection against head injuries. In addition to other safety apparel or gear, helmets or head gear should be worn at all times for:

Baseball and Softball (when batting)
Cycling
Football
Hockey
Horseback Riding
Powered Recreational Vehicles
Skateboards/Scooters
Skiing
Wrestling

Head gear is recommended by many sports safety experts for:

Martial Arts
Pole Vaulting
Soccer

Reported at Neurosurgery today

April is also National Facial Protection Month, so the doctors and dentists who see damaged teeth and faces from sports injuries and lacerated faces from dog bites have their own list of precautions, which includes that ever-in-short supply, common sense.

How can kids and other athletes save face? Just remember these important tips:

Wear mouth guards for contact sports. Mouth guards can help prevent jaw, mouth and teeth injuries and are less costly than recovering from the injury.

Wear a helmet. Helmets absorb the energy of an impact. You don't have to lose your head due to a cycling or rollerblading mishap.

Wear protective eyewear. Don't become a real-life example of the age-old warning: "You'll poke your eye out."

Wear a face shield to avoid scratched or bruised skin. Hockey pucks, basketballs, and racquetballs can do severe damage.

Be aware of family pets. About 44,000 people suffer facial injuries from dog bites annually. Supervise children when they're with pets (including cats and rabbits, too).

Buckle up and use child safety seats. Unbuckled passengers are more likely to suffer a brain injury in a crash than the buckled driver. Air bags save lives!

Keep babies and toddlers safe. They crawl and climb, so pad sharp corners of tables, lock cabinets, install stairwell safety gates, and secure windows. They also teethe, so hide sharp pencils.

Be alert even as a spectator. Alert spectators can avoid foul baseballs and flying hockey pucks. Watch your step when climbing bleachers.

Use common sense. If an activity carries risk of dental/facial injury, gear up. Without it, even a basketball game could land you in the emergency room.

Head injuries in sports

The Columbus Dispatch recently published the winning photos in its photo contest--semifinalist photo is 2 little boys colliding in a soccer game. They had on nifty uniforms, special shoes and knee socks--and no helmets or head protection. In his book Making a good brain great, Daniel G. Amen, MD writes:

"A concussion or mild "traumatic brain injury" (TBI) is far more than just a bump on the head. According to the American Academy of Neurology, "There is no such thing as a minor concussion." A study from UCLA found that "the level of brain glucose use in people who suffered mild concussions was similar to that in comatose, severely brain-injured patients. . . Even mild head injuries result in major changes to the brain's metabolism and could make victims susceptible to more serious damage from a repeated blow."

Dr. Amen advises parents to never let their child knock the soccer ball with his head--heading drills, in which a child's head is knocked repeatedly, are of greater concern to pediatricians than is the occasional head-punt in a game. A study of adult soccer players found 81% had impairment of attention, concentration, memory, and judgment when compared to non-players of similar age and circumstances. He says football players are struck in the head 30-50 times per game and regularly endure blows similar to those experienced in car crashes.

Dr. Amen, who has seen over 30,000 brain scans, says: "I would not let my children hit a soccer ball with their heads, play tackle football, or snowboard without a helmet. I encourage my own kids to play tennis, golf, table tennis, and track. Your brain matters. Respect and protect it."