By Kate Ruder, KFF Health News

During cheerleading practice in April, Jana Duey's sixth-grade daughter Karter suffered a concussion when she fell several feet headfirst onto a gym floor mat. Days later, Karter still had headaches, dizziness and sensitivity to light and sound.

Karter rested at home in Centennial, Colorado, for per week and a half, then returned to high school when her concussion symptoms were tolerable – initially for under half days and with accommodations that allowed her to do schoolwork on paper as an alternative of on a screen taking more time to get to and from class. Karter went to the nurse when she had a headache, Duey said. She began physical therapy to rehabilitate her neck and regain her balance after the accident left her unsteady on her feet.

After a concussion, the largest concern for them and their parents or caregivers is when children can play sports again, he said Julie WilsonKarter's physician and co-director of the concussion program at Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora. Returning to high school as quickly as possible, with appropriate support, and fascinating in light exercise that doesn’t pose a risk of head injury are necessary first steps in concussion recovery and are consistent with the most recent research.

“It's really important to get children and young people back to their normal daily activities as quickly as possible and as soon as they can tolerate them,” Wilson said.

In August, the Colorado Department of Education updated guidelines We dispel common myths about concussions, akin to that a lack of consciousness is crucial to diagnose a concussion. The revised guidelines reflect evidence-based best practices on how return to high school and physical activity can improve recovery. Medical experts say educating families and schools in regards to the latest guidelines is critical, especially given the rise in concussions in sports like football and soccer in the autumn.

More than 2 million children Nationwide, people have been diagnosed with a concussion or brain injury in some unspecified time in the future, in accordance with the 2022 National Health Interview Survey. A flood of studies within the last decade have shown that teens get better more quickly from concussions and reduce the danger of persistent symptoms by engaging in light exercise, akin to on an exercise bike or taking a brisk walk, two days after a concussion. This time-frame may be the optimal time for this back to the classroomso long as the youngsters can tolerate the remaining symptoms of a concussion.

“Although the brain is not a muscle, it behaves like one and exhibits a use-it-or-lose-it phenomenon,” he said Christina MeisterPediatrician and sports medicine and brain injury specialist at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Instead of waiting at home for full recovery, Meister said students should return to high school with additional support from teachers and breaks of their schedule to alleviate symptoms akin to headaches or fatigue, with the goal of steadily doing more.

Every state has return-to-sport laws for student-athletes, which include policies akin to exclusion from sports, medical clearance to return, and concussion education. While some states like Virginia and Illinois have return-to-learn policies, Colorado will not be one among them. It and 15 other states have community-based concussion management protocols in place.

Colorado updated this this summer. REAP – which stands for Remove/Reduce; Educate; Customize/Customize; and Pace – is a protocol for families, healthcare providers and schools to assist students get better in the primary 4 weeks after a concussion. For example, school staff can use an email-based system to alert teachers that a student has suffered a concussion after which provide them with weekly updates with details on the right way to manage symptoms, akin to: B. Difficulty concentrating.

“We have new protocols in place to support these children,” said Toni Grishman, senior brain injury consultant for the Colorado Department of Education. “They may still have concussion symptoms, but we can support them.”

Symptoms of a concussion resolve throughout the first month for many patients. However, patients with persistent symptoms, called persistent postconcussive symptoms, may profit from a multidisciplinary care team that will include physicians, physical therapists, psychologists and extra educational support, Wilson said.

David HowellDirector of the Colorado Concussion Research Laboratory on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, studies how children and their families address the physical, cognitive, social and emotional effects of concussions. In some studies, teens wear sensors to measure exercise intensity and volume, in addition to common concussion symptoms akin to sleep and balance problems. In other cases, children and their parents answer questions on their perceptions and expectations of the recovery process.

“What comes with an injury is often made worse by the injury,” Howell said, referring to anxiety, depression or just a difficult social time. Recovery could be influenced by peer and family relationships.

Duey said the toughest a part of Karter's recovery was that she was unable to take part in cheer for nine weeks, including her team's final competition in Florida. Karter, now 12, watched practice within the spring and supported her teammates, however the absence tore her apart inside, Duey said.

“There were a lot of tears,” Duey said.

While recognizing a concussion and acting quickly will help anyone, in practice, Grishman estimates that greater than half of Colorado students with an undiagnosed concussion can fall through the cracks.

According to Grishman, there are numerous reasons for missed diagnoses, including lack of education, barriers to medical care, parents' reluctance to inform schools a few concussion because they fear their child may be excluded from activities, or the dearth of seriousness of the condition Symptoms in a student with a history of behavioral problems.

Getting schools to generally comply with concussion policies is a challenge, Grishman said, adding that some districts still don't. She said it was difficult to find out the number of faculties that followed Colorado Department of Education guidelines last 12 months, but hopes improved data collection this 12 months will provide more accurate information. Last school 12 months, Grishman and her colleagues trained 280 school staff members in concussion management in 50 school districts in Colorado.

Whenever possible, athletic trainers needs to be on the sidelines to support student-athletes, Master said, and athletes should concentrate on concussion symptoms in themselves and their teammates and seek immediate treatment.

But concussions are usually not just limited to the varsity playing field or sports like football or soccer. Adventure sports akin to parkour, slacklining, motocross, rodeo, skiing and snowboarding also pose a risk of concussion, Wilson and Grishman said. “Cheerleading is actually something that has a lot of problems,” Howell added.

Duey said Karter has occasional headaches, but with the assistance of physical therapy, she has regained her balance and now not has any symptoms of her concussion. She's flying along with her cheerleading squad again and preparing for the competition.

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©2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

With the autumn, the football season begins within the USA and with it the parade of distinctively decorated helmets worn by the players.

Over time, the form and size of those helmets have progressively modified, from the Leather headgear of the early Twentieth century to the Plastic domes within the space age we’re used to seeing today.

But the visual profile of some NFL football helmets could change dramatically in 2024. The league has approved using padded helmet accessories called Guardian Caps during play, which the NFL says can “reduce the force from head contact.” by as much as 20%.

A backlash has already begun. Some players have complained concerning the unwieldiness of the devices. And each fans and players have turned pale after they saw how the clunky accessory makes the players' heads appear disproportionately large.

Because I’m working on a cultural history of the football helmetI'm excited to see what happens.

In a multi-billion dollar sport where The helmet is the outstanding trademark and symbol of the sportWhat happens when player safety conflicts with the visual appeal of the sport?

We'll discover soon.

From the practice field to the playing field

Attaches with snaps and velcro straps to the surface of players' existing helmets. Guardian Caps consist of a series of soppy, linear cushions connected by fabric.

After the caps were introduced in 2010, some college and skilled teams progressively adopted them during training. In 2022 The NFL now requires their use in preseason trainingInitially, only linemen and linebackers needed to wear them. By 2024, the league has made it mandatory all players except quarterbacks and kickers wear them during training. In April 2024, the league announced that players could wear them in regular season games at their discretion.

There appears to be good reason to encourage their use. Based on data collected from all 32 teams, the league found that the devices Reduce the impact force in frontal collisions by 20% if each players involved wear the device, and by 10% if one among the players wears one.

Some scientists expressed skepticism towards the NFL's top secret research data. Nevertheless, the league claims that there’s a Stunning 52% drop in concussion reports during preseason training because the equipment became mandatory.

Touting the protection advantages of Guardian Caps is clearly a PR success for the NFL. Ongoing research into chronic traumatic encephalopathyor CTE, and other traumatic brain injuries proceed to exhibit the damage that repeated blows to the pinnacle can do to the brain, with football players being particularly in danger.

Many players have supported the League’s efforts Putting safety first, including running back of the Indianapolis Colts Jonathan Taylorwho became the primary top-class skill position player wear a guard's cap during a warm-up match on August 11, 2024.

Players protest

But the story of the launch of Guardian Caps just isn’t an unqualified success – no less than not yet.

Although the usual edition of the Guardian Caps weigh lower than 7 ounces (0.2 kilograms), many players find them heavy and hot.

“I hate them,” Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Jarran Reed told the Seattle Times“I understand the safety concerns, but I've been playing for a long time. To me, it just looks crazy. I don't like them. I'm ready to take them off.”

“I can’t stand them. It affects my swag,” Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay told CBS Sports“My game is part of my prey. If I don't look like it, I can't feel like it.”

Obviously, in such a quick and brutal game, the smallest differences – each physical and mental – could make a difference in performance. And players like Reed, Slay and no less than a dozen Miscellaneous seem unwilling to sacrifice their ability to maximise performance on the sector for incremental safety gains.

As vital as such players' objections to the appear and feel of the Guardian Caps could also be, it might not be the largest problem the NFL faces in introducing these caps.

Tarnishing the brand

Simply put, many fans think that the Guardian Caps Are uglyeven in the event that they covered with fabric which mimics the look of the logos on the plastic shell underneath.

But why should the fans' response matter? After all, they are usually not those risking their health.

In addition, through the first 75 years of football history, most helmets were unremarkable. According to football historian Timothy P. Brown, early helmets were made from plain leather in “various shades of brown or black,” in order that they all looked kind of the identicalin addition to many team uniforms.” Only within the Nineteen Forties and 50s as the primary plastic models of the sporting goods manufacturer Riddell began to achieve popularity that the potential of the helmet as a canvas for adornment began to be realized.

And yet, much of the NFL's incredible success is resulting from its visual appeal.

In the early Sixties, then NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle noticed that television, not ticket sales, would drive the longer term financial success of football. Helmet branding was a vital way to advertise and have fun the identity of an NFL teamFor television viewers, the helmet logos became clearer and more colourful as broadcast technology improved.

Today, the logos that first appeared on helmets within the mid-Twentieth century have grow to be icons Multi-billion dollar brands with Hundreds of hundreds of thousands of fans around the globe.

The negative impact of the Guardian Caps on the look of the sport and the importance of that look to the sport's continued popularity haven’t gone unnoticed.

“Football is a very visual sport,” Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wrote“The success of The New York is based in large part on its appearance on television.”

“With smooth helmets covered with lumpy coatings that look like soundproofing panels, the atmosphere is compromised,” he added.

Fortunately for Florio and others who don’t just like the look of the Guardian Cap, the NFL has already approved and promoted using six latest helmet models which supposedly offer the identical protection as those equipped with the Guardian Cap.

These models don't look quite like regular helmets either. But they don't appear to be Guardian Caps, and that might make all of the difference.