An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure: Preventing Head Trauma Injuries in Young Athletes

Reducing head trauma and concussions in sports has become a hot issue and experts in a variety of fields are teaming up to do everything they can to address this issue. Only recently has our understanding that non-concussive blows to the head can cause damage and need to be monitored just as concussions do.

Helmet manufactures work to build better helmets. Technology has progressed. We now have sensors that can measure blows to helmets and allow the parents and coaches to monitor the force of helmet hits. This technology doesn’t reduce the force of the blow to the head. It measures it so the coach can more accurately determine if the player should be rested.

Dr. Robert Cantu has been treating concussions for over 40 years and is one of the leading experts in the field. He states, “We cannot eliminate head trauma from youth sports. What we can change do is our mind-set so protecting the head and the brain is always a top consideration. The guiding principle should be that no head trauma is good head trauma.”

He promotes the “Hit Count” method for reducing head trauma. It utilizes current sensor technology to track the number of helmet impacts. Working with a group of scientists, head trauma thresholds were created for athletes. The athlete is removed from competition and rested once the threshold is exceeded. This technology is in its infancy and has limitations but it is a huge step in the right direction. We would love to see these sensors adopted universally but they have not been. We would love to see them used in boxing and MMA as well as football and other sports. Not all blows to the head are equal; some are much harder than others. Being able to measure and record the amount of head trauma will be beneficial in determining when to stop for the competitor’s safety.

As Dr. Cantu states that our guiding principle should be “no head trauma is good head trauma” which should be true for everyone.

How can we reduce head trauma? As a football fan it’s common to see players fall on their backs. They get hit in the chest and knocked backwards onto their backs. Their head far too often bounces off the ground and that bounce is preventable. We know that there are risks associated with cumulative head trauma or hits to the head. The problem is we don’t exactly know how much is too much. A common sense approach would be to eliminate all avoidable head trauma. When falling on their back, keeping their head from hitting the ground is routine for martial artists with break fall training. They know to tuck their chin on their chest when falling backward to keep their head from being whipped into the mat. This works in the dojo (martial arts school), on the playground, basketball court, soccer field, and football field.

Many martial arts utilize throwing techniques. Before you can participate in this type of training you have to learn break falls in order to protect yourself from injury. It would be irresponsible for a martial arts instructor to allow students to be thrown, slammed, etc. in the dojo before teaching them break falls.

There is a correct way to hit the ground in order to avoid breaking bones, damaging joints, to protect the head and spinal cord, and to minimize the force of impact. Students are taught how to protect their head when falling in every direction: face down, on their side, on their back, thrown headfirst through the air, and when picked up and spiked vertically on their head. Learning these falling techniques is really quite easy. Children can be taught break falls. Break falls have been taught for centuries. They are not some new, unproven set of techniques. Children should be taught break falls in grade school gym class. Concussions don’t just happen on the football field, they happen on the playground, from falling off a bicycle or skateboard, from a variety of activities and not just contact sports.

Technological improvements in safety equipment have made it into dojos around the world. The mats used today to cushion impact when falling are dramatically superior to the mats used in the past. Still, martial artists are taught not to rely on technology alone to protect their heads when they fall. They are trained to protect their head from impacting the ground at all times. Too bad this same level of awareness and basic safety training hasn’t become commonplace in contemporary sports. If we are truly trying to reduce the risk of head injuries to athletes these techniques should be adopted universally.

#headtrauma #concussions #breakfalls #sports #drrobertcantu