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Concussions: sport’s worst injury

There is a serious problem going on around the world due to an increase in understanding of just how serious hits to the head are for athletes.

Issues with athletes sustaining concussions are forcing the sports with impacts (which is most of them) to scramble to find solutions to protect their athletes. Many companies and leagues now to turn to sport technology to help find a solution.

A concussion is a brain injury that can relate in temporary abnormal brain functions (AANS). Most of them are a result of an external extreme force to the head, in most cases, head on collision.

Such injuries are not considered life threatening, but they can lead to traumatic brain injury.

It was also found that athletes who have experienced three or more concussions succumb to clinical depression and mild cognitive impairment, which is associated with early Alzheimer’s detection.

George Visger would be all too familiar with these long term effect because he is battling chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a mental disorder that is directly linked with head traumas.

During his career, San Fransisco 49ers lineman Visger suffered from several minor concussions and one major concussion that took a downfall on his health.

His memory began to deteriorate in 1982, after one crippling concussion. He struggled with depression and began noticing sudden outbursts of rage.

Even with cases such as Visger’s happening throughout the years, there are over 1.7 million concussions reported each year (in the United States alone).

As companies compete to solve such problems, there were the appearance of a lot of promising solutions and technologies that hope to help athletes continue to compete as normal.

CSx, a Kiwi tech company, tested their newly developed concussion testing software at the Rugby World Cup this year to resoundingly positive reviews.

The technology was based on a head injury assessment system used in rugby, where players’ neurological health was tested at the start of the season and used as a measure against later assessments done if a player had an incident on the field.”

Following the Cup, Scotland and Ireland demonstrated major interest in implementing the technology within their countries’ leagues.

Though some would say, it would be easier if the playing style of some of the more violent of sports (notably NFL dan rugby) were changed to better fit the protection of players.

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