Preventing Head Injuries in Sports in Houston

Michael S. Callahan | | Personal Injury

Concussion injuries are serious but can be prevented.

Any head injury can cause brain damage.

If you are a fan of our Houston Texans, you know that the quarterback Brian Hoyer has had quite the bad luck streak with back-to-back concussions.

Unfortunately, head injuries like this aren’t restricted to the NFL; they can happen in just about any sport and for any age group.

From USA Today:

“Using data from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, the report focused on pediatric sports injuries related to 14 common sports activities, including football, cheerleading, soccer and basketball. More than 46.5 million children played team sports in 2011, says the report.

It finds that in 2012, 12% of all ER visits (163,670) involved a concussion, the equivalent of one every three minutes. Nearly half (47%) were in kids ages 12 to 15.”

What You Can Do To Protect Yourself and Your Child

At the rate of one concussion every three minutes, it is extremely important that you protect yourself and your child from being one of these statistics. Here are some things that athletes, parents and coaches can do to reduce the risk of a concussion from happening on the field:

  1. Make sure ALL protective equipment is worn.
  2. Check that protective equipment is in good shape and free of damage each time it is used.
  3. Discourage or avoid hitting others with your head.
  4. Discourage or avoid being hit in the head by others.
  5. Do not make physical contact with other players not wearing protective equipment.
  6. Never hit another player or allow players to hit each other with the intent to injure.

Symptoms of a Concussion

If you or your child received a hit to the head while playing sports, it is important to seek medical attention if there are concussion symptoms. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the following are some of the symptoms you need to watch for as well as the frequency in which they occur:

  • Headache (94%)
  • Dizziness (76%)
  • Trouble concentrating (55%)
  • Confusion (45%)
  • Bothered by light (36%)
  • Nausea (31%)

Checkout this video for more information on brain injuries.

[videosingle id=”8620″ width=”100%” height=”400″ rel=”false” /]

If a concussion was the result of a car accident, truck accident or work accident, you may be entitled to compensation. Contact us today to schedule a free case evaluation.