Tag Archives: head injury

It’s a rarity for pitchers to get beaned by a batter’s line drive, but it’s also a reality. With that in mind, Major League Baseball has been scrambling over the past several months to find head protection for its fielders, particularly pitchers.

Unfortunately, the search has not yet yielded the results MLB has been seeking, and Toronto Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ faced that very scenario Tuesday without any head protection. Luckily, Happ seems to have suffered no significant injuries other than bruising and a cut ear and has since been released from the hospital.

While the search for the right product for pitchers to comfortably wear under their caps has not yet been successful, watch for a new GelDefender product – one made specifically for caps – that will be available May 18.

The comfortable soft gel and the cooling benefits make the newest GelDefender head pad perfect for use under caps, and the design allows the pad to fit inside caps securely.

We’re sending samples to MLB and a few MLB teams that have requested our product, and we hope they and other ball players will choose this new equipment option.

*Scientists have no conclusive evidence as to whether or how the reduction of g forces during impacts reduces the number or degree of concussions and head injuries. GelDefender^TM products provide supplemental padding as well as cooling and comfort benefits when used with helmets and caps. Participants in activities in which head impacts can occur should always use tested and approved helmets for protection. However, no helmet or supplemental padding can protect the user from all serious head or neck injuries that can result from impacts.

Astute observers of this winter X-games in Tignes, France, will notice something missing this time around. Past events always included a grand finale of sorts, much like the “cherry-on-top” to the entire competition. As contestants competed throughout the week to reach such pinnacle events as the Ski Slopestyle final or the Superpipe, observers began to get excited about the adrenaline-charged moment: the Best Trick Event.

The Best Trick Event typically included the best and brightest snowboard or snowmobile artists. However, because of the ongoing investigation into the untimely death of X-games snowmobile rider, Caleb Moore, ESPN and the X-games have discontinued the event. The accident occurred in January when Moore’s snowmobile flipped and landed on top of him. Though there was a scramble to uncover him, it was already too late. The danger of these events stems from the competitors’ continuous struggle to push the envelope with bolder moves or better variations.

For example, the 360 degree rotation was once the gold standard in the skateboard/snowboard world. However, once the trick was performed successfully, many were able to eventually mimic it with practice, and the quest to go one step further than ever before continues. Unfortunately, the X-games and ESPN believe this overzealous nature will eventually cause greater accidents like Caleb Moore’s. Greater protection for athletes is key in ensuring greater athlete safety during tricks. Hopefully, with better protective equipment, the Big Trick Event can be safely returned to the Games, as fans will undoubtedly be disappointed this year.

*Scientists have no conclusive evidence as to whether or how the reduction of g forces during impacts reduces the number or degree of concussions and head injuries. GelDefender^TM products provide supplemental padding as well as cooling and comfort benefits when used with helmets and caps. Participants in activities in which head impacts can occur should always use tested and approved helmets for protection. However, no helmet or supplemental padding can protect the user from all serious head or neck injuries that can result from impacts.

In a recent interview with The New Republic, President Obama was asked a tough question that lurks in the minds of football fans everywhere: Does he “take less pleasure in watching football, knowing the impact that the game takes on its players”?

It’s an uncomfortable question – not one with a cut-and-dry answer and not one we like to contemplate. Now that we know how harmful those hard hits are to the men making them and the men taking them, are we still just as happy to watch the concussions-in-progress as we were when ignorance was bliss?

The President, a self-proclaimed football fan, acknowledged the danger and need to change. He said football fans, himself included, are going to have to come to terms with the idea that the game might have to become less exciting in order to make it safer for the players, and then perhaps fans “won't have to examine our consciences quite as much.” He admitted that if he had a son, he’d have to think long and hard before letting him play the game.

He also stated that he worries about college players more than NFL players. He said NFL players are unionized and old enough to make the decision to takes the risks, and most are “well-compensated for the violence they do to their bodies.” One the other hand, he said college players are younger and have nothing to fall back on when faced with brain injury.

*Scientists have no conclusive evidence as to whether or how the reduction of g forces during impacts reduces the number or degree of concussions and head injuries. GelDefender^TM products provide supplemental padding as well as cooling and comfort benefits when used with helmets and caps. Participants in activities in which head impacts can occur should always use tested and approved helmets for protection. However, no helmet or supplemental padding can protect the user from all serious head or neck injuries that can result from impacts.

While sports concussions are an important segment of the traumatic brain injury issue, less-publicized but equally important are those suffered by our service men and women in combat or even before. Reports from the Pentagon indicate that an average of 16 concussions were suffered each day of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan during the spring of 2011, the highest pace of any period in 10 years of combat.

The causes of brain injuries during combat are vastly different from those during athletics. Blasts from explosives have been the most common cause of combat-related concussions for our troops in Afghanistan, according to the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center. And one blast can cause more than one concussion to a person. The scope of the people affected by these injuries is not insignificant.

The number of concussions in Iraq and Afghanistan reported each year steeply rose in the last several years, from 808 in 2005 to 3,880 in 2010, according to USA Today. Much if not all of that increase is attributed to more attention given to potential concussions and improvements in battlefield diagnosis, which are good. But by the same token, the difference between the numbers could represent thousands of undiagnosed brain injuries during combat over the past decade.

It’s not only during combat that concussions are a concern, either. A startling report by National Public Radio in August 2012 revealed the preliminary results of a study of military brain injuries during training, a study which centered on Fort Hood in Texas. According to the preliminary findings, hand-to-hand combat training classes saw a concussion about every other day over a nine month period. Six percent of the soldiers in those classes said they’d been hit in the head and were suffering the symptoms that indicate head injury.

While these numbers are disturbing, measures are being taken to better protect our troops. In the last year, the Department of Defense, the Department of Veteran Affairs, the Army, and the Navy have all made extensive efforts – including funding research, working with the NFL, and screening and treating soldiers more successfully – to fight these “invisible wounds of war.”

*Scientists have no conclusive evidence as to whether or how the reduction of g forces during impacts reduces the number or degree of concussions and head injuries. GelDefender^TM products provide supplemental padding as well as cooling and comfort benefits when used with helmets and caps. Participants in activities in which head impacts can occur should always use tested and approved helmets for protection. However, no helmet or supplemental padding can protect the user from all serious head or neck injuries that can result from impacts.

In yet another testament to the severity of the head injury problem, the U.S. government has begun a study of youth sports-related head injuries, according to Reuters. The study, which was prompted at least in part by concerns over the suicides among professional football players, was launched by the Institute of Medicine among athletes from elementary through young adulthood.

The initiative, according to Reuters, will be "one of the most extensive ever done” and should garner plenty of attention from the public, given the sensitive nature of the topic. Child safety is obviously an incredibly important topic to the general public, and sports are, in one way or another, near and dear to the heart of most Americans. As Robert Graham, head of the study’s panel, put it, “You start talking about, 'Is it safe for Sally to be playing soccer?,' you get lots of public interest.”

Given the scarcity of data about youth sports head injuries and the critical nature of the issue, several big-name organizations in the medical world and the government have stepped up to the plate to sponsor this study: the Department of Defense, the Centers for Disease Control, and the National Institutes of Health to name some.

The study is in its very early stages as yet and probably won’t be concluded and presented to the Institute until summer, and it will be late 2013 before its findings are published for the public to examine. Be ready for some sobering wake-up calls when that time comes.

*Scientists have no conclusive evidence as to whether or how the reduction of g forces during impacts reduces the number or degree of concussions and head injuries. GelDefender^TM products provide supplemental padding as well as cooling and comfort benefits when used with helmets and caps. Participants in activities in which head impacts can occur should always use tested and approved helmets for protection. However, no helmet or supplemental padding can protect the user from all serious head or neck injuries that can result from impacts.

In a recent article, a Texas coach stressed that concussions are occurring more often as a result of the public’s lack of education regarding head injuries. Many people already know that concussions occur most often as a result of severe collisions. However, an often-overlooked truth about head injuries is that they're not always caused by person-to-person collisions. The sport that reported the second highest number of concussions was girl's soccer, caused by repeatedly heading the ball and colliding with the goalpost.

According to Kenneth Locker, manager of sports marketing for Texas Health Resources, these sub-concussive hits are dangerous because players (especially in youth sports) are often not removed from games afterward. Youth players who continue to play in a daze are actually at incredibly high risk for even more serious brain injuries.

Locker also points out that it takes younger players much longer to recover than adults. So, if the games are not properly spaced out, athletes can be put in precarious positions. Even if they sit out an entire the game, they might not be prepared to play the next, but most coaches play them anyway. Mishaps like this could hinder players for the rest of their careers.

Teach your children (or your youth players and coaches) to learn about recognizing sub-concussive symptoms. And take time to implement complete sideline tests for medical staff. Protect your players and your communities with information that can help them enjoy the game without being subject to its negative effects.

*Scientists have no conclusive evidence as to whether or how the reduction of g forces during impacts reduces the number or degree of concussions and head injuries. GelDefender^TM products provide supplemental padding as well as cooling and comfort benefits when used with helmets and caps. Participants in activities in which head impacts can occur should always use tested and approved helmets for protection. However, no helmet or supplemental padding can protect the user from all serious head or neck injuries that can result from impacts.

This past weekend yielded several incidents that piqued curiosity and started some very serious conversations in the sports world.

The first is the rise (and fall) of two relatively obscure cornerbacks in Seattle. Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner were quickly becoming two of the biggest reasons the Seattle Seahawks have the NFL’s number one secondary. For both of these players, this placement is a giant step in the right direction. Both were late-round picks and cut from the Canadian Football League. However, following suspicion that they were playing a bit above their talent, both cornerbacks were tested for PEDs. The tests found positive results for Adderall, and now both face four game suspensions if their appeals are disregarded.

Another of our highlights hit hard – literally. After taking a hard hit on Sunday, Denver QB Peyton Manning was taken into the locker room and evaluated for “concussion-like” symptoms. The jury is still out on whether or not he suffered an actual concussion, but one thing is clear. After the incredible year the Denver Broncos are having at the hands of Peyton Manning, they can’t afford the possibility of losing him for two weeks due to a concussion.

In other NFL news, longtime Jets superfan Ed Anzalone is retiring as “Fireman Ed,” a surprise to many fans, as he has been an iconic figure in the Jets Metlife Stadium seats. Although he attributes his decision to unruly Jets fans who taunt him into confrontations, many suspect the Jets’ terrible state is fueling his choice to hang up his helmet. He is well-known for having received the game ball from coach Rex Ryan after the Jets upset the Patriots in 2009. Whatever the reason may be, it is truly a sad day for Jets fans everywhere.

What was your favorite highlight from the weekend?

*Scientists have no conclusive evidence as to whether or how the reduction of g forces during impacts reduces the number or degree of concussions and head injuries. GelDefender^TM products provide supplemental padding as well as cooling and comfort benefits when used with helmets and caps. Participants in activities in which head impacts can occur should always use tested and approved helmets for protection. However, no helmet or supplemental padding can protect the user from all serious head or neck injuries that can result from impacts.

A fair amount of chatter recently has been dedicated to the mythological “concussion-proof helmet,” that elusive piece of safety equipment that can perfectly protect the brain from harm. In response, various “solutions” to the sports concussion problem have been popping up in the form of protective products.

So, to clear up the issue from the get-go, we’ll state the facts: there is no such thing as a concussion-proof helmet. Contact sports will always have some modicum of danger involved for the brain. The second someone tries to sell that, run the other way.

The brain’s movement within the skull causes concussions, not the impact itself. According to the Mayo Clinic, “A violent blow to your head and neck or upper body can cause your brain to slide back and forth forcefully against the inner wall of your skull.” It also states that sudden acceleration or deceleration can have similar effects.

So the issue is what happens when the head is moving swiftly in one direction (which happens during running, skating, or bicycling) and then suddenly stops or changes directions (as in an impact or another abrupt change). First, the brain sloshes forward, hits the front of the skull, and then over-corrects and subsequently hits the back of the skull before finally settling. There’s nothing that can stop the brain from moving around in the skull, so there’s no way to completely protect against concussions.

*Scientists have no conclusive evidence as to whether or how the reduction of g forces during impacts reduces the number or degree of concussions and head injuries. GelDefender^TM products provide supplemental padding as well as cooling and comfort benefits when used with helmets and caps. Participants in activities in which head impacts can occur should always use tested and approved helmets for protection. However, no helmet or supplemental padding can protect the user from all serious head or neck injuries that can result from impacts.