Concussion protocols will be in place when sports season resumes

Concussions are a form of a traumatic brain injury that permanently affects the brain, even if only a little. A 2017 report by the CDC (US Centers for Disease Control) stated that 15% of all high school students across the nation have experienced a concussion. The CDC also says that the number may actually be higher' it’s just that some athletes hide their injuries from coaches as to still be eligible for playing time.

Concussions can lead to CTE, a disability that can lead to suicide or even the attempt to kill others. Most concussions occur when the head makes contact with an object and the brain moves within the skull. In the case of soccer, this could happen from too many headers.

In 2017, the NFL had 281 concussions throughout the calendar year, reported by usatoday.com. The NFL controversially handles its concussions in house, as it usually likes to have players back on the field one day after the injury occurred. Normally, a week to 10 days is recommended for concussion recovery; for pro sports, it may be even more, but the NFL absolutely rushes its players back onto the field long before they are ready. Since they often aren’t fully healed when they begin playing again, this may lead to more concussions. The injuries will build up onto each other until finally Tau starts to form inside the brain. Tau is a major microtubule-associated protein of a mature neuron. Tau spreads rapidly and kills brain cells at an alarming rate. The worst part about CTE is that a doctor can’t diagnose it until the subject is dead and the doctor can remove the brain. One hundred and 10 NFL players have been diagnosed with CTE, as reported by The New York Times on nytimes.com.

But football is not even close to where the line ends, as almost all other professional American sports suffer multiple concussions a year as well, including but not limited to the NBA, MLB, soccer, and UFC. High school sports are also an area of athletics where players can often suffer many concussions. The certain high school sports in the nation that see the most concussions are boys' football, girls' soccer, and boys' ice hockey. These sports suffer 10.4, 8.19, and 7.69 concussions per 10,000 athlete exposures respectively, reported by cnn.com. Many think high schools aren’t doing enough to protect their athletes from concussions and injuries in general. In truth, it’s impossible to prevent every concussion, but helmets and other protective equipment, such as mouthguards, can stop many concussions, from happening. If student athletes are concussed, they are not allowed to participate in games or practices, without exception, even if it is not confirmed that they even have one. If they are just experiencing a few common symptoms, they still are not allowed to participate. The high school athlete must go through a concussion protocol where they do a series of activities and tests to try and detect symptoms of the concussion. If they are clear, they are allowed to go back out onto the field, court, mat, or pool.

CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) is a brain disease caused by getting hit in the head repeatedly. Out of all the brains that were donated for brain tests from former football players, 99% of the brains were injured. Of that 99%, 87% had CTE, as reported by theverge.com. CTE can affect the athlete's thinking and memory, as well as create problems with personality and cause behavioral mood swings.