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Sports-Related Concussions & Subconcussive Injuries

Making Sure Football Helmet Fits: A Simple, But Effective Way To Minimize Concussion Risk?

Ensuring that football helmets fit properly, and that those with air bladder linings are properly inflated, may be two of the simplest but most effective ways to minimize the risk of concussion and catastrophic brain injury, say the authors of a February 2012 study.

Concussion Laws Making Sports Safer, Says Guskiewicz

Concussion expert, Kevin Guskiewicz, PhD, ATC, says the concussion safety laws now in place in a majority of states are making sports safer by providing for more concussion education and encouraging honest self-reporting.

Consider Long-Term Effects of Concussion in Retirement Decision, Says Guskiewicz

Concussion expert, Kevin Guskiewicz, PhD, ATC, Kenan Distinguished Professor and Director of the Matthew Gfeller Sport-Related Traumatic Brain Injury Research Center at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, says that, while he hesitates to say that any specific number of concussions should prompt a decision to retire from contact or collision sports, it is important for athletes and their parents to consider the long-term effects of concussion, including depression and memory impairment.

Contact and Collision Sports Okay If Emphasis on Developing Protective Skills, Says Guskiewicz

Kevin Guskiewicz, PhD, ATC., argues that, while there are trade-offs, contact and collision sports are relatively safe for younger athletes as long as the coaching emphasis is on protective skill development. 

Limiting Hits To Head In Youth Sports Aim of Innovative "Hit Count" Program

The Sports Legacy Institute's  "Hit Count" initiative is designed to dramatically reduce youth athletes' exposure to repetitive brain trauma in multiple sports, with the goal to reduce concussions, sub-concussive trauma and risk of developing Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).

The Unmarked Detour: Final Thoughts and Biggest Regrets

In the last part of her series, Dorothy Bedford offers final observations on her teenage daughter Heidi's concussion two years after that fateful night, her four biggest regrets, and her advice to parents of concussed student-athletes.

The Unmarked Detour: The Journey in Videos

A series of video segments featuring Dorothy Bedford talking about her teenage daughter Heidi's 14-month long struggle to overcome post-concussion syndrome after suffering a serious concussion playing hockey at boarding school.

Computerized Neurocognitive Baseline Concussion Testing At Home: Why I'm Against It

A couple of weeks ago a team and league management technology provider and a neurocognitive testing company announced a partnership to provide online testing for athletes. The announcement prompted emails to MomsTEAM from parents asking for my opinion on how and where to have their children's baseline neurocognitive tests done, and whether they could do them at home.  While I have been fielding similar e-mails for years, the uptick in emails prompted me to do some digging to come up with an answer.

Computerized neurocognitive tests which athletes can take in the comfort of their parent's home may be affordable, but MomsTeam's Brooke de Lench argues that concussion testing should be left to concussion professionals trained in properly administering and interpreting the results, not sold on line for use without supervision.  Leading experts and the Centers for Disease Control agree.

The Unmarked Detour: Concussion Recovery Helped By Treatments Old and New

Old fashioned Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) baths and foot soaks were a simple, yet remarkably helpful, therapy in treating her daughter's ongoing symptoms of concussion, says her mom, Dorothy Bedford, while craniosacral therapy, a new offshoot of osteopathic medicine, also helped.

Sarah Burke's Death: A Reminder To Take All Head and Neck Injuries Seriously

Vertebral artery (e.g. whiplash) injuries, such as the one that claimed the life of Canadian freestyle skier, Sarah Burke, can occur to athletes in contact sports, such as football and hockey, and sports where falling is common, such as skateboarding and skiing
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