When I watch football games on television, I keep thinking these players need to do a better job of protecting their brains. Their helmet can protect their skulls from a direct hit, but it would not prevent the jolting and shaking that happens to their brain inside their skulls. Their helmet gives them a false sense of security that actually frees them to hit other players with their head and be open to getting hit if they are about to score a point and win. They should wear helmets to ease some of the blow to their brain, but they should not assume they will not have a concussion because they have their helmets on.
Motivated to educate my fellow friends and classmates to prevent concussions, I established a non-profit organization called ‘Concussion Superstars’. Through this organization, I have tried to explain to them some basic steps they can take to reduce their risk for concussions and learn how they can recover from a concussion, if they ever experience one.
More specifically, I started my organization to achieve the following goals:
- Provide educational material for children and young adults on how they can prevent concussion in different sports.
- Provide information for coaches and parents on what specific things they can do to help children minimize their risk for traumatic brain injury.
- Raise awareness of the general public about the “invisible symptoms” of concussion and how we need to be mindful and sensitive in caring for patients who have persistent concussion symptoms.
- Organize presentations and produce educational material (including this book) about the basics of how patients can recover from their concussion symptoms.
- Form a coalition for children and young adults who are committed to concussion prevention, by calling them “Concussion Superstars.”
What do you need to do to become a concussion superstar?
I believe that the more kids know about the importance of protecting their brain and the long-term consequences of concussion, the more they will be careful about preventing a trauma to their brain.
I want to see that more and more children and young adults become proactive and enthusiastic about concussion prevention.
So I have set the following criteria for anyone who wants to become a “Concussion Superstar”:
- Believe that it is important to prevent concussions and promote it among their friends and community.
- Must feel that it is important to report if they have had concussion symptoms if they experience a trauma to their head; many kids who are playing sports prefer to stay in the game and don’t always let their coaches know that they had some symptoms after they hit their head or if they collided with another athlete.
- Promise to take good care of themselves if they do develop concussion symptoms and return to playing games only after they have FULL recovery.
- Must support their friends who had a concussion by letting them know that their brain is more important than anything else; it is OK if they stop playing, even if it means they won’t win a game without their friend who had trauma to his/her brain.
I want children, teenagers, coaches, and parents to realize that the best way to deal with a concussion is to try and prevent it in the first place. They need to always wear a seatbelt in the car, wear a helmet that fits when playing contact sports or biking, and just make smart decisions that would prevent putting them at risk for injury.
I encourage everyone to follow the CDC recommendations for prevention of concussions in sports:
- Football: Limit contact during practices, enforce rules about unfair play and illegal contact, make sure athletes are wearing properly fitted helmets, remove any tripping hazards from the field
- Soccer: Do not allow any heading for players under the age of 10, and only allow heading during practice until the age of 13. Enforce rules against unfair play and illegal contact with other players, and remove any tripping hazards from the field.
- Baseball: Wear a batting helmet and make sure anything that can be tripped on is removed from the field.
- Field Hockey: Enforce rules against unfair play and illegal contact with other players and remove any tripping hazards from the court.
- Ice Hockey: Limit contact during practices, only allowing body checking for players who are over the age of 15. Make sure players wear properly fitted helmets, and enforce rules against unfair play and illegal contact with other players.
- Basketball: Enforce rules against unfair play and illegal contact with other players, and remove any tripping hazards from the court.
- Softball: Wear a batting helmet and make sure anything that can be tripped on is removed from the field.
- Lacrosse: Limit contact during practices and make sure players wear properly fitted helmets. Enforce rules against unfair play and illegal contact with other players.
- Cheerleading: All practices should be supervised to make sure everyone is being safe. Spotters should always be used during stunts; and cheerleaders should not try new stunts without proper instruction.
- Volleyball: Teach proper digging and diving techniques, and make sure that equipment and padding is in good condition.
- Wrestling: Teach proper techniques that protect the head, and enforce rules against unfair play and illegal contact with other players.
Kids and young adults who become concussion superstars educate their friends and family members that it is important to prevent concussions. When they play sports, they also give their brain enough time to heal if they do experience a bad concussion.
They must make sure they receive proper care if their symptoms are not fully resolved within a week. They need to help their fellow athletes know that a return to full game should happen only after a full recovery from concussion symptoms.