August 28, 2024
WACO, Texas (KWTX) – When it comes to a collision sport like football, head or brain injuries are very common. Sometimes they’re minor and have no long-term effects, but other times they can be fatal.
Just a few days ago a 16-year-old quarterback from Alabama tragically passed away from a head injury he got after being tackled in a football game.
According to Temple ISD’s head athletic trainer, Windee Skrabanek, head and brain injuries are by far the most dangerous because “that’s the one part of our body we’re not able to replace.”
She says whenever a player takes a big hit, they always look for signs of a head injury.
“If they’re able to respond right away, or if they’re delayed, or if they stumble, their balance, cognitive, all those type of things,” Skrabanek said.
But Mike Sims with Baylor Scott and White Southwest Sports Medicine and Orthopedics says part of what makes these injuries so dangerous is that they often go unnoticed.
“That’s one of the things that makes concussions more difficult is you don’t do a picture of it and say okay this is a broken bone or not, or do an MRI and say this ligament is torn or not… you can’t really do that,” Sims said. “You can do a CT scan, you can do an MRI, you can do everything you want to, and it doesn’t show anything about a concussion.”
Which is why taking the proper safety precautions is so important, starting with helmets.
“It’s kind of like a car… everything outside of the car has the protection and we want to protect that motor, cause that’s the most valuable part of a car,” Skrabanek explained.
One of the biggest mistakes kids make is not wearing it properly; such as making sure it is fitted on your head, the holes on the side are aligned with your ears and all of the straps are in place.
Skrabanek says that “sometimes they just don’t think about that, being a high school kid, they’re just thinking about the next two minutes and not about the effects.”
Another mistake is not taking care of the helmet. According to Sims, while football helmets can last 10 years, they should be reconditioned every two years.
“When you recondition it… they’ll inspect the helmet, look for any kind of flaws in it or replace any defective parts, and then they’ll recertify the helmet,” Sims said, “which means they’ll go through part of the drop test to make sure it does meet the standards.”
These can be the difference between a minor head injury or a deadly one.
There are also other prevention measures that schools and teams can take such as building up strength, teaching them to tackle the right way, and even using guardian caps.
“Those are things that you have to keep a grip on that you also meet with your staff as well, so that way we’re all on the same page and making sure that we’re doing the best for our kids,” Skrabanek said.
But Sims recommends waiting till your kids are older to put them in such a high collision sport, explaining that “junior high’s a good level to start playing at, when your brain’s more developed and ready to go.”