Thursday, 16 January 2020

How to Prevent Concussions


It is football time and myself like a lot of other mothers out there it means time to see our kids play the game while praying they don't get hit too hard. I love football but I do not know the first thing about how the equipment is too fit or what to look for.

Do helmets protect against concussion


Usually, this part is up to the father or man in the child's life but what if there is none and you are the one who is responsible for this? Well in this article I will give you tips on what to look for to see if your child's equipment fits right, if they have signs of a concussion and what to do to help prevent one.

Every year the emergency room sees 135,00 children between the ages of 5-18 for sports related concussions. Out of this number, 21% of the children will have a traumatic head injury due to the sport they received the concussion in. A concussion is a type of brain injury where the athlete does not lose consciousness. All athletes who have ever had a concussion are at an increased risk to suffer another one. Concussion can change how the cells work in the brain normally and can have a long term impact on cognitive, physical and psychological functions.

There is a wide variety of sports that can cause a concussion here are a few:

*football

*rugby

*cheerleading

*soccer

*baseball

*volleyball

*softball

*martial arts

There are many more on the list and you can google a list of them. For this article, I will concentrate on the sport of football.

These are tips that I learned and some of the signs of concussions while I attended a seminar put on by Ahead of the Game.

Equipment:

1.The helmet should fit snug and should be one inch above the eyebrows. Grab the face mask and move the helmet up and down. If it is too loose it will move all over.

2. The ears should be where the ear holes are so that they can hear commands.

3. When taking off the helmet, your child should put hands in the ear holds and press up.

Some Concussion signs:

*headache, nausea,dazed, sluggish, foggy, double or blurry vision, balance problems

can't recall events prior or after the hit, change in personality, not sure of opponent or score

If you think your child has a concussion remove the child from the game. DON'T let them tell you they want to keep playing, pull the parent card and take them out. Better they are mad at you and can play later than having a major head injury. Go get your child evaluated by a health care professional that is experienced in concussions. Until the health care professional gives you the green light, keep your child out of play. Better to play it safe than sorry.

Preventing Concussion


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