If your child is in high school sports, you are probably concerned if he or she would be affected by concussions or traumatic brain injuries and how it might affect them. According to a new study, there is good and bad news. The rates of football practice concussions and recurrent concussions across all sports have gone down in recent years, the study published in the journal Pediatrics states. The bad news is that concussion rates have increased in football games.
What The Study Found
Interestingly, the study found trends in concussion rates not only for football but also more than a dozen other sports including soccer, ice hockey and cheerleading, which were all sports that had the highest incidence of concussions. The study also found that among all sports, there was only one in which the concussion rate was higher during practice than in competition.
The study included data on 9,542 concussions across 20 high school sports that occurred between the 2013-2014 and 2017-2018 school years. These sports include boys’ football, wrestling, soccer, basketball, baseball, cross-country, track and field and coed cheerleading. A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury caused by a bump, blow or jolt to the head.
Concussions Cause Long-Term Damage
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in the United States, more than 800,000 traumatic brain injury-related emergency department visits, hospitalizations and deaths occur in children each year. These types of injuries have raised a lot of concern as youth sports have soared in popularity.
Research continues to show that repeated blows to the head such as from playing football or heading a soccer ball can lead to long-term memory loss, dementia and other serious health problems. As of 2015, all 50 states have adopted some form of concussion legislation with minimum return-to-play guidelines for students who have had concussions.
Knowing Your Rights
If your child has suffered a concussion while playing high school sports and has suffered other health consequences as a result of the school’s and/or staff’s negligence, you may be able to seek compensation for your injuries and losses. An experienced brain injury lawyer will be able to provide you with more information about pursuing your legal rights.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/15/health/concussion-high-school-sports-study/index.html
