In America, football rules over all. Football players are among the highest paid, the highest respected, and the highest concust.
Could you guess which sports leaves participants with the second most head injuries? Boxing? MMA? UFC? Those guesses would all be incorrect. Would you be surprised to learn that the next highest number of concussed players play soccer?
According to the Sports Concussion Institute, football is the most common likely sport to recieve a concussion, with a 75 percent chance. In soccer, players have a 50 percent chance of head injury. Although men’s lacrosse, as well as both men’s and women’s ice hockey, yield a higher percentage of NCAA athletes concussed per 1000 participants, soccer is the more widely played sport, therefore ranking it second behind football.
A study held by the NCAA Sports Medicine Handbook from 2004-2009 revealed that football accounted for 37 percent of sports related concussions and women’s soccer accounted for 12 percent. Lacrosse and hockey collectively accounted for 10 percent of sports related concussions.
“Concussions can be severe in any sport they’re sustained in,” said Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer, Lian Yuen with UW Sports Medicine.
The SCI reported impact speed of a professional boxer’s punch comes in at 20 mph. A football player’s tackle ranks in at 25 mph. Soccer players, however, face a much greater force going in for a header: the reported impact speed of a soccer ball headed by a player comes in at a whopping 70 mph.
“People assume that because there aren’t vicious tackles like in football that concussions can’t happen,” Yuen said. “But soccer athletes use their head to make contact with a ball and head-to-head collisions are very common.”
The SCI reports that scientific evidence is indicates that females are nearly twice as likely to sustain a concussion as their male counterparts. Although it is still a theory, there could be some truth behind it.
“There’s something to be said for girls tendency to report concussions,” Yuen said. “They’ve been conditioned less to ‘tough it out’ and ‘play through it.’ There are also anatomical and physiological differences that may contribute, including neck strength.”
A 2010 Self-Reported Concussion report among NCAA Student-Athletes asked if student athletes have ever been diagnosed with a concussion, or thought they had ever sustained one. 17.9 percent of football players said yes to one concussion. 9.5 percent said twice or more. These concussions could be those reported or unreported; the survey did not ask students to report the number of those concussions that had been stated to coaches, parents or health personnel. In women’s soccer, when asked the same questions, 13.9 percent of female players said yes to having a concussion once. 7.1 percent said that they had received multiple concussions.
“Diagnosing a concussion can be difficult, especially when there’s an athlete [who] insists that they’re fine,” said Yuen.
According to the CDC, an athlete who sustains a concussion is 4-6 times more likely to sustain a second concussion.
The NCAA Self-Report findings concluded that the academic year was the largest factor among students sustaining a concussion. Seniors were twice as likely to have received a concussion as freshmen. There is no data about how likely seniors are to report concussions to their athletic trainers.
“If an athlete wants to make sure they’re getting appropriate care, they need to be honest with the practitioner and tell them how they’re actually feeling,” said Yuen. “Athlete education on concussion and education for all involved in athletics — including coaches and parents — is the key to having the most comprehensive plan available.”
UW student athletes are required to review concussion management and educational material yearly. As a student athlete, they are required to sign a waiver confirming they have received educational information about concussions and are assuming the risk by signing it.
Baseline concussion testing at UW requires that all student athletes are subject to partake in baseline testing at least once in their college career. Student athletes with multiple known concussions may be subject to further baseline testing. UW athletes who are diagnosed with a concussion are required to be removed from the sport for one calendar day, and be cleared by a physician before returning to their sport.
“Playing sports means there is an inherent risk for injury and concussions are part of that risk,” said Yuen. “Everyone needs to understand that — not to be afraid of what can happen, but so that everyone is prepared. As medical professionals, we need to continue to educate the general population.
