NFL Concussions: League Fights Injury With Technology

For years, the NFL has denied the link between football injuries, namely concussions, and brain injury. Only in the past few years has it begun to understand the impact the sport has on the health of its players.

This year, the NFL has been on what many have called a crusade against concussions. From the ban on head hits to the recent launch of a new website, www.nflhealthandsafety.com, the organization is doing its part to keep players safe, during their time on the field and long after.

The website is aimed at not only spreading awareness about the dangers associated with these injuries but documents the efforts of the league to fund research that will hopefully help give us better comprehension of the long-term impacts of these injuries.

Despite some fans and players initially resistant to the changes imposed by the commissioner this season, members of the medical community, myself included, saw it as a victory for athletes of all ages, at all levels.

Imposing stricter rules regarding return-to-play following a head injury has indirectly helped protect countless kids from similar injuries and even more complicated side effects. Schools and youth sports groups have taken a page from the NFL playbook and have begun enforcing new rules stating players must be evaluated by a medical professional before returning to the field.

The enforcement of these new rules has helped bring the severity of concussions to light for many coaches, players and parents. Parents now know that they must play a proactive role in protecting their children, both on and off the field. And athletes know that playing through the pain is simply not an option anymore -- this alone has probably saved thousands of kids from possible concussion mismanagement.

In addition to changing how the game of football is played, or rather enforcing the rules that were there all along, the NFL has been doing extensive research to better understand concussions and their connection to brain damage.

A main focus of the NFL's research this season has involved impact testing; specifically how they can effectively measure the impact a hit has on a player's brain at the time of the injury. This information is crucial in making proper evaluations regarding the players' health during game play.

No player wants to be removed from the game -- especially if it isn't necessary. If successful, this new data will provide immediate, irrefutable evidence justifying their removal.

Back in October, the league began looking into updating uniforms, particularly helmets, so that they were embedded with impact-sensors, which would be part of a head impact telemetry study, the first of its kind backed by the NFL.

Similar programs are currently used by nine college football teams. In these studies, the sensors are placed in the helmet's padding, and are activated when a player is hit with dangerously high force. Upon activation of the sensor, the data is sent to the trainers and coaches on the sideline who are then able to immediately evaluate the injury.

It was announced recently the league plans to put the test system in place as early as next season. It has yet to announce details of the new equipment, but according to The Washington Post, accelerometers will be installed in mouthpieces, earpieces, and helmets, to see if they provide the necessary data to make a proper neuroanalysis during games.

If successful, NFL players will no longer have an opportunity to further injure themselves by returning to the game prematurely after a traumatic blow. Further, the collected data from all the injured payers over the course of the season will be studied in hopes of gaining a broader understanding on the impact of these hits.

Upon learning more about how the brain reacts to trauma in different areas, helmets can be tailored to better protect players -- at all levels. Some helmet manufacturers are already building new prototypes, aimed at better protecting the brain.

The NFL's openness this season about the very real dangers of concussions, head injuries and the game of football has served as a much-needed wake-up call for many involved with the sport.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell reaffirms his concerns for the health and safety of his players and all players with a statement on its new website: "The NFL not only has a long standing commitment to the health and well-being of its players, but to players active in collegiate, high school and youth programs. We recognize that the NFL is looked to as a leader and that this position offers an opportunity and responsibility that we not only accept but embrace."

While we are a long way from a full understanding of these injuries, the NFL has helped bring awareness and knowledge to the public arena, which is a necessary tool in prevention and recovery from these dangerous and potentially life threatening injuries.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dr. Sharon Chirban is an instructor at Harvard Medical School, registered with the U.S. Olympic Committee and on staff at Children's Hospital Boston, where she works in the concussion clinic in the division of sports medicine. Her website is www.amplifyingperformance.com.

 

Comments

[George Visger]

02:14 AM on 01/25/2011

Its about time the NFL has acknowledged the effects concussions have on your life. They are about 29 years too late for me. I developed hydrocephalus during my second season with the 49ers in 1981, underwent emergency VP Shunt brain surgery during the season, two more 10 hrs apart, just 4 months after we won Super Bowl XVI and was forced to sue for Workers Comp just to get my hospital bills paid for. I have now had 8 more shunt revisions since.

For a look at post NFL life the NFL never wants you to see, go to the following links on my life.

Sac News and Review Cover story
http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/content?oid=1317643

NPR: A Brain, A Life, Battered by Football
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114059228#commentBlock

NFL HBOT link
http://www.westcoastmarketingpartners.com/nfl/index.html

Pittsburg Post Gazette 12-12-11
http://communityvoices.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/sports/heads-in-the-game/26479-george-visgers-story-12-12

Visger Rules – Recommended changes to NFL Rules 071810
http://davepear.com/blog/2010/07/george-visgers-concussion-rules/

George Visger
Wildlife Biologist
SF 49ers 80 & 81
Survivor of 9 NFL Caused Emergency VP Shunt Brain Surgeries
Benefactor of ZERO NFL Benefits

[ErikW65]

12:25 AM on 01/27/2011

Wow, I don't know what to say except to say how sorry I am that you went through all that. Thank you for telling your story here. I will read the stories you've linked to.

Do you have any thoughts on the current batle between the owners and the union?

Best wishes to you in good health, George.


EikW

[Jetwash]

08:54 PM on 01/24/2011

"If successful, NFL players will no longer have an opportunity to further injure themselves by returning to the game prematurely after a traumatic blow." The science is now revealing that these "blows" happen during practice...a lot. How is the league going to deal with that? It's not just concussions but "sub-concussions" blows that accumulate but can equally be devastating to the brain later in life. The only want to stop this brain damaging sport is to remove the helmet and pads and play a form of rugby/football. It's all pitch and catch nowadays anyway.

[onionboy]

09:57 PM on 01/25/2011

So many injuries happen when a player is the "attacker" rather than the "defender". They feel invincible with all of the "protection" they have on. Unfortunately, the physics doesn't match the feeling. Less pads might just be the answer.

[saskatoonie]

02:38 PM on 01/23/2011

Players are getting bigger and faster.....change is hard but so is something like epilepsy. I am a woman who developed concussion related epilepsy in later life from sports concussions in my youth. It's not worth risking your health for life after competitive sport!

[Steve Rockett]

11:57 AM on 01/23/2011

Okay, I have a lot of sarcasm built up about the NFL, so here goes: 1. How these rich aholes got special anti-monopoly preferential treatment is terribly unAmerican, along with all other professional sports. 2. This is nothing more than modern gladiator sports with fewer deaths but the same number of unpublished permanent injuries. 3. Ethics and prohibition of criminal behavior takes a backseat to behavior on the field. 4. If you give a guy pads and a helmet and tell him it will provide protection, then let him develop his body beyond playing skill, he will figure out a way to hurt the hell out of an opponent. Retired players have shorter life spans, are generally significantly injured, and many are addicts to pain killers and alcohol. This is a terrible American "tradition". Take the pads away and eliminate the tackle with flags. Let's get back to the sport and the skills, not the crash dummy philosophy.