Synopsis

  • Parents can help their children stay safe during sports practices and athletic
    events by identifying the sports which are the most dangerous and require
    extra prevention measures against accident injuries to the head.
  • High impact sports performed without adequate safety equipment or injury
    prevention and treatment guidelines leaves student athletes at risk to
    sustain an excessive amount of head injuries each year.
  • Football, as well as soccer and boxing, remain some of the most dangerous
    sports when it comes to high school students receiving and suffering from
    concussions and a more prevalent brain disease, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).
  • While awareness for recognizing a serious head injury in your child athlete
    requires greater education of the symptoms and warning signs, it also
    remains important to know that not all head injuries will present with
    such signs.

Football Preseason Prep for Parents of Young Athletes: Concussions Are
NOT the Only Head Injury to Worry About

Football season is nearly here, and many high school and college teams
are starting up their full practice season. Football still ranks as one
of the most dangerous sports related to concussions and serious head blows
that cause damage to the head, neck and spine. And the ground-breaking
information regarding CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy we read
about in 2017 continues to support the fact that the more hits a child
athlete receives to the head, the greater the risk for the degenerative
brain disease that slowly kills brain cells over time, even if the player
never has a concussion or presents symptoms.

If your child is gearing up for the Indiana high school football season,
you both need to become more aware of the brain injury and CTE risks.
Being informed on what a traumatic brain injury can turn into can help
parents identify when their children are in dangerous situations caused
by spots injuries that should have been prevented or caught. Parents should
also be able to align with their child’s coach and school to help
recognize symptoms, acknowledge uncommon behaviors, and promptly treat
them until links between CTE and change in policies that protect athletes
from the disease become the norm.

Understanding Indiana Head Injury Protocol for Student Athletes

If you child athlete is impacted by a head injury, Indiana law says, “If
a student athlete has had a bump, blow or jolt to the head or body, the
student may be assessed by an athletic trainer or a licensed health care
provider, if available. The athletic trainer or health care provider can
make a first assessment of the student athlete at the time of injury.
If the student exhibits any of the danger signs associated with a concussion,
the student athlete should receive immediate medical attention.”
Medical experts at Indiana University provides this list of concussion
symptoms to guide parents, coaches and young athletes:

  • Headache
  • Confusion
  • Fuzzy or blurry vision
  • Nausea or vomiting (early on)
  • Sensitivity to noise or light
  • Feeling sluggish, tired, or groggy
  • Feeling unusually irritable
  • Sleeping more or less than usual
  • Trouble falling asleep
  • More emotional
  • Nervousness or anxiety
  • Difficulty thinking clearly
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Difficulty remembering new information

If a student athlete does exhibit even one of these symptoms, a head injury
should be suspected, and the student athlete should be removed from play,
the athlete’s parents should be notified, the athlete should not
return to play for a minimum of 24 hours and not before being evaluated
by a licensed health care provider and a written clearance must be completed.
Sometimes coaches or other athletic staff (and parents) will allow a seemingly
healed athlete return to play before this time.

Indiana Brain Injury Attorneys

Could your child’s brain injury have been prevented or was it improperly
diagnosed, or ignored by your student’s school? Help us raise awareness
for the seriousness of these injuries and hold coaches, schools, and doctors
accountable for properly treating and caring for our children. The
traumatic brain injury attorneys at Wagner Reese are here to listen and help support your family. Give
us a call at (888) 204-8440 today or connect with us by
submitting our online form and our attorneys will promptly review your information.