Everyday, we’re learning more and more about concussions. Something coming to light is that teenagers can have more severe concussions compared to adults. With their brains still developing, side effects from a big hit to the head can be detrimental. Teens also tend to put themselves at risk of getting multiple concussions in a short period of time. This is because the initial symptoms may not be very noticeable, and athletes want to push through and keep on playing. If an adolescent takes a hit to the head, they need to be checked out by a doctor (Cabun Regional Health).
Zoe, I find your topic to be extremely important and relevant with all the competitive sports being played right now. Having had four concussions myself, your topic really resonates with me. When you talked about teens being more at risk for concussions in shorter periods of time and not recognizing warning signs, I found this to be super interesting. Thank you so much for writing about this extremely important topic, I look forward to reading more of your writing!
Comming from past experiences concussions are pretty scary and uncomfortable, a few years ago I think my freshman year of high school, I was nailed into the ground playing indoor lacrosse, and I came up not knowing where I was or what I was doing, one of the scariest experiences of my life, by far.
It makes sense that teens would have more concussions than adults, they are significantly more active than most adults. But I hadn’t yet considered the fact that they would be worse strictly because of their developing brain. Nice job Zoe.
I find this topic extremely interesting, especially as sports are getting more intense and more competitive. I know that many people who I have played a sport with have gotten concussions during games, and they have been ought for several weeks or longer. I would also like to point out that many athletes push through most of their injuries, not just concussions and don’t visit the trainer as often as they should. This poses a question in my mind and that is, what percentage of teenagers have had a concussion?
Hey Zoe! I think it’s interesting that you mention that teens put themselves at more risk to getting multiple concussions in a short period of time because the athlete wants to continue to push even if they shouldn’t. I know that a lot of my teammates and myself are guilty of doing this whether it relates to a concussion or another injury. This definitely brought light to the fact that you should take time off and respect recovery time in order to protect a developing teen brain.
This is a great viewpoint on concussions. A sentence I found very interesting was “This is because the initial symptoms may not be very noticeable, and athletes want to push through and keep on playing.” I thought this was interesting because it is one of the reasons why teenagers are prone to multiple concussions. I have many friends that have pushed through their concussion to keep doing their sport, so this is definitely true. I would love to hear more about how these concussions specifically affect the brain development of teenagers.
This is a very well writing and composed post. I like how you are bringing to attention about concussions and how they can be worse than they seem, Especially for teenagers and their developing brains.
What are some ways we can limit the risk of severe concussions for children? For example, could football helmets be changed in order to make them more effective in stopping concussions?