As more and more students and athletes are actively playing a variety of contact sports, the rate of concussions has steadily increased in recent years. Whether a high-school or collegiate athlete, a professional or semi-professional athlete or a weekend warrior, the concerns around sustaining and effectively treating concussions are very real. In the U.S. today, an estimated 1.6-3.8 million sports or recreation-related concussions happen each year. In organized high school sports, football accounts for more than 60% of concussions and for the girls, soccer is the sport that leads to the highest number of concussions.
While more and more studies are being done to further the study and awareness of concussions, there has been no slowdown in the number of people signing up to participate in competitive past times. With that in mind, there are some facts when it comes to sports-related concussion risk and recovery that are very valuable to know.
- High school athletes’ recovery time for a sports-related concussion are longer than those of college athletes
- High school athletes who sustain a concussion are three times more likely to sustain a second concussion
- Lack of proper diagnosis and management of concussion may result in serious long-term consequences or even coma or death
According to the Center for Disease Control, fewer than 1 in 20 concussion sufferers will get the facts that they need to effectively and positively deal with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) such as a concussion. Considering that a TBI occurs every 15 seconds, that is a staggering number of people. In addition, it is believed that more than half of sports medicine clinicians experienced pressure from coaches or athletes to return players to participation too soon. This scenario proves especially troubling for both the athlete and the rehabilitation team because someone who is cleared to play prematurely has a much greater risk of potentially career-ending damage, or even death, should another injury occur.
Understanding the risks and symptoms associated with concussions is just half the battle. Finding a doctor who understands the delicate nature of brain injuries and provides an all-encompassing approach to returning their patients to the optimal state of health is imperative. Chiropractic Neurologists are experts in the treatment of a variety of conditions though the use of non-invasive and drug-free care. Chiropractic Neurologists have a deep understanding of the brain-body connection and the treatments used activate the brain’s neuroplasticity, or the ability of the brain to adapt and change, create new pathways for neurons and their networks and allowing patients to safely recover from injuries such as concussions and other TBIs.