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The NFL and head injuries

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by DocTalk, Feb 28, 2007.

  1. DocTalk

    DocTalk Active Member

    http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2782445

    Why shouoldn't the NFL believe a rheumatologist when he says that concussions are no big deal. Just because the rest of the scientific community believes that they are, doesn't necessarily mean he's wrong....right?
     
    DocTalk, Feb 28, 2007
    #1
  2. Jones

    Jones Active Member

    Man, what a quack.

    All you have to do is talk to people who've had concussions.

    I've had three in the last four years... Each worse than the last, even though the blow was probably less severe each time out. The most recent one took me about three weeks to feel normal again. I'd try to write and couldn't find words like "door" -- that scared the hell out of me.

    These guys who've had eight or nine or ten... They must feel like their skull is made of glass.
     
    Jones, Feb 28, 2007
    #2
  3. Rough Mix

    Rough Mix Guest

    There was a thread where concussions came up recently. I've had a few, the last fairly recent. It sounds like Jones' are "stacking", but I'll leave that diagnosis for DocTalk.

    This could end badly for me, but I have trouble understanding someone saying they've had over 20 concussions, but yet they seem to be able to function at a very high level. It's not that I doubt what they are saying, but given my experience, I can't imagine that being possible. Maybe it is possible, I don't know.

    I know of an NFL wide receiver who retired within the last few years, who if he sneezes, ends up in bed for days. Maybe we're all wired differently.
     
    Rough Mix, Mar 1, 2007
    #3
  4. DocTalk

    DocTalk Active Member

    Concussions are cumulative and cause problems in both the short and long term. For me, the most amazing part of head injuries is the inability of the player to recognize that they have actually been injured. According to some studies in the medical literature, about 3/4 of college football players are unaware that they have sustained a concussion.
     
    DocTalk, Mar 1, 2007
    #4
  5. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

    That explains a lot... ;D
     
    slappy4428, Mar 1, 2007
    #5
  6. Flying Headbutt

    Flying Headbutt Moderator Staff Member

    Oh just rub some dirt on it. You think Andre Waters sat around worrying about concussions? Oh, wait.......
     
    Flying Headbutt, Mar 1, 2007
    #6
  7. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    I've had two concussions in the last three years, and perhaps others I didn't know were concussions when I was younger. Last one I was knocked out cold. It took me a month to feel "right" again. So many former NFL players talk about losing it mentally and getting nasty depression as a result of all the brain rattling they took. That is anecdotal. But it is still something the league and the PA should care more about than they seem to.

    One positive is that helmet technology has improved by leaps and bounds, even within the last five years, to help try to limit concussions. It's partially offset by the fact that the players today are bigger, stronger and faster, so the hitting is harder. The NFL only uses Riddell helmets, and about four or five years ago, they introduced their "Revolution" helmet. The design is more like a race car driver's helmet than more traditional football helmets. Through research, they figured out that a lot of concussions are caused in a way people didn't realize, by hits to the side of the head and the underside of the jaw, not to the top of the head. So the newer helmets extend farther down and outward, to protect the side of the face and the jaw area. I don't know what the numbers are, but within a year or two of introducing the helmet, I think something like 60 percent of the players in the league were wearing it. It is probably more now.
     
    The Big Ragu, Mar 1, 2007
    #7
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