Tag Archives: injuries

Concussions in Football

I play football. I have also suffered a concussion from it. Concussions are a huge part of the sport. If you have watched more than one game, at any level, you have probably witnessed a concussion. Over the past two seasons, there has been 306 players who have suffered 323 concussions. That means multiple concussions for multiple people. Diseases like Alzheimer’s have been proven to be 35 times greater in past NFL players than everyday people. Most of this is due to concussions suffered in their career. Lots of times the player will go back into the game after suffering the head injury. And the most dangerous time after a concussion is within 10 days. This means they may suffer another one minutes after their first. This can cause the diseases.

Personally, I think their has to be better awareness if a player looks like they may have suffered a concussion. After they are diagnosed, they should still go through protocol to make sure they are ready to play the next week. When I played, I went to the doctors, and got approved to play then my coach had to make sure I was ready by increasing the amount of running and hitting I do each day. I was back playing again in less than two weeks. But most of the time players lie and say they feel fine, but really they don’t. This leads to more concussions within the same time frame, and diseases after their career. This is even bigger in youth football because children’s brains are still developing and can acquire these diseases even earlier.

~Frank

Competitive Sports Blog

In an article from the Aspen Institute, it stated that“just over 21 million youth between the ages of 6 to 17 play team sports on a regular basis, with another 5 million engaging on an occasional basis….”  Many of these children enjoy the sport that they participate in, however like most things in this world there are risks, and sometimes we ask are those risks worth it? In 2012 about 1.35 million children sustained sports related injuries.  Is all the pain , boredom, and so much more really what your child deserves all for a sport that in some cases they might not be able to do again?  In addition, the cost of the medical bill can be outrageous.  For example “sprains and strains, fractures, contusions, abrasions and concussions top the list of sports-related ER diagnoses for kids ages 6 to 19 — at a cost of more than $935 million each year…”  Not to mention the long-term effect that these injuries could potentially have.  For example, every year “high school athletes suffer 2 million injures, 500,000 doctor visits and 30,000 hospitalizations each year” .  To conclude, parents must ask themselves is the harm really worth the pay off?


I have been a competitive swimmer my entire life and more recently a runner for both the Dodd Cross Country Team as well as Track Team.  However, after recently developing both a shoulder injury which took about 2 and half months to recover due to overuse , and more recently a concussion due to hitting heads with a fellow swimmer; it has forced me to reconsider my decisions as an athlete.  I believe that staying healthy is a wonderful thing that every person young or old should take part in.  Nonetheless there are incredible risks that come along with doing something so often and so intense.  For example, my friend who is a synchronized swimmer had to endure a concussion last year, as well and missed about a months worth of school.  This raises the question what comes first school or sports?  For me the definite answer is school, because that is what I grew up knowing to be the correct decision.  Yet, for some the answer may not be as clear.  I believe that with the right attitude and support from your family, friends, and yourself taking part in a competitive sport is do able but not for everyone.  In fact, my family and I have made the decision to cut back on swimming we made the decision to stop swimming and take on running as my full-time sport due to swim impairing my school work.  In addition competitive sports put strain on families; I go to swimming 4 days a week from 6 pm or 6:30 pm to 8:35 pm our pool is 30 minutes – 45 minutes away on most days I leave my house at 5:30 pm or 6 pm and get home at 9:10 pm. Between, homework and extracurricular activities family time is hard to come by.  To conclude, I believe that everybody should become or stay active, nevertheless there should be boundaries to ensure that nobody gets hurt, school work gets done, and that the athlete spends time with family friends that is my opinion on competitive sports.  What’s your opinion on competitive sports?

~Emmy

Swimming Injuries?

Usually when you hear of sports injuries you assume that the person plays a contact sport like, hockey, lacrosse, football, or basketball, and not of a competitive swimmer getting hurt. People think that because competitive swimming is a non-contact sport you can’t get injured. Well those people are wrong. Although swimming may not be a contact sport you still are able to get injured in different ways.

Most swimming injuries are caused from  overuse or repetitive stress injuries. You hear complaints about how someone on your teams shoulders or knees are hurting. This is from swimming the stroke wrong or from a lot of long practices. Its the constant action of pulling with your shoulders that makes the problems. While you’re swimming your shoulders are pulling you along which is a lot of stress on the shoulder. Breaststroke is a cause of  knee injuries because of the awkward looking and uncomfortable kick you do can irritate your knees! Other kicks such as the kicks you do during butterfly and the flutter kick you do during backstroke and freestyle may irritate your knees too. Too many stressful and long  practices can result in these injuries.These injuries could potentially keep you out of the pool.

You would think that since your lighter in the pool, swimming would be easy. But swimmers put constant pressure on their shoulders and knees. Everything they do involves their shoulders and their knees. I know that swim practices are longer than the average sports practice, sometimes I have practice for 2 hours and 45 minutes! Thats a long time to be moving your body around. So as you can see there are swimming injuries even though swimming is not a contact sport!

-Julia Waldron

INJURIES… AND LIFE

When you see someone on crutches, you usually say “oh what happened?” and “that sounds so horrible” or “I feel so bad for you!”. Have you ever considered the fact that if you are a  runner or involved in a sport with a lot of running,  you could be that person? Many teenage athletes are often getting hurt because their bodies are still growing. For a runner, knee and leg injuries are a big issue.  Runner’s knee and shin splints are just a couple. Achilles Tendinitis (Achilles tendon attaches the calf muscles Gastrocnemius and Soleus to the heel. This can become inflamed through overuse) and ankle sprains are a couple of the most common foot and ankle injuries. Injuries often happen because everything is so repetitive. All you’re doing is putting your foot down. With every step you take you could be injuring yourself more and more. That’s why it’s important to stretch correctly, do a warm up, have good running shoes, have good core strength, and eat well. Especially as a growing teenager.

I never thought that I would ever be the one hurt. Now I’m out for the season and I know how horrible it feels. However, I didn’t hurt my leg or foot. I have what’s called the “Apophysitis of the Pelvis/Hip”. It would have never happened if I wasn’t growing and the bone/muscle plate wasn’t weak in the spot where the muscle attached. This just goes to show we all need to be careful. I think that this made a little bit of an impact on my life because now I’m seeing it from the other side. I guess you never know what it really feels like until it’s you.

~Abigail Del Vecchio

NBA Lockout to Blame for Late Season Injuries?

Torn ACLs and broken bones. Are these injuries occurring because of overworked bodies? Well, in case you didn’t know, this NBA season was cut to 66 games because of a lockout similar to the one the NFL had. Basically, it was an argument between the NBA Players and Owners over money. They finally agreed on a deal that would decrease the players’ salaries up to 300 million dollars. This decision also led to the teams playing 66 games in 4 months. Was this too many games in too few days?

Recently, there have been many injuries to key players. The worst one so far happened just a short time ago when Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls tore his left ACL in the final minutes of a playoff game on April 28th. Other notable injuries were Iman Shumpert of the New York Knicks also tearing his ACL on the same day as Rose, and the Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard having season-ending back surgery in late April. All three of these players are crucial to the success of their teams. These injuries are not just happening to the older players either. Rose and Shumpert are both in their early twenties at ages 23 and 21. Howard is just a few years older at 26. So, are these injuries occurring because of the lockout? I guess we’ll never know, but it could very well be the reason.

~Tim Fiedler

Are dancers going down?

Snap, crackle, pop, those words may be the catch phrase to your favorite cereal, but for dancers those sounds are all too frightening when they are in class or performing. Dance related injuries are no joke.  They can be either short term or long term depending on the severity of the injuries and the healing time of the person. The most common injuries are usually caused by over use, and the areas for dancers that are most prone to complications tend to be the foot, ankle, lower leg, lower back, and hip.

In the past I have had issues with my feet due to the fact that I have very high arches, this causes me to have excruciating pain and cramps all throughout my foot and calf. To prevent this from happening often I have to know my limits, and ice my foot as soon as I feel any kind of pain. I am very lucky as to not having to go through great lengths to prevent or heal my injury. But, others are not as lucky, my friend has had to go through many extremes just to bring down her pain level. She has gone through physical therapy, dropping her activity level, and having to wear a brace. Also, if a professional dancer becomes hurt their career is most likely over no matter what. Unfortunately these injuries are hard to get rid of but not as hard to prevent!

Luckily, dance experts have figured out ways to prevent injuries and have shared their tips! Some of the best tips are to stretch and warm up. Also, for new dancers they need to build their muscles and slowly work on flexibility, because if they are pushed to hard to soon it can be very harmful. Another common one is shin splints; they are severe pain in the front portion of the calf and are caused by jumping on hard surfaces, landing incorrectly and poor flexibility. These can be prevented by making sure you always land properly when jumping! Thank goodness for the people who figured out how to prevent serious dance related injuries!

~Sydney Korman

Misconceptions About Swimming Injuries

Many people think that competitive swimming is not a dangerous sport. It’s not a contact sport like lacrosse, basketball, soccer, football, and hockey. There have been many injuries that result from swimming even though you might not interact with the person next to you.

Some of the main injury’s from swimming are overuse or repetitive stress injuries. Shoulder and knee pain are the common complaint amongst swimmers. This is from swimming the stroke wrong or from long practice sessions. Its the constant over head action that causes a problem with shoulders. The awkward rotation of ones knees during breaststroke and the up and downward kick in various strokes may cause knee injuries. Having a muscular injuries may keep swimmers out of the pool which will decrease the amount of practice time.

Recently the worst injury that was reported at Cheshire High School came from swimming. A swimmer was kicked in the head and suffered a concussion. She has been out  of the water for over 6 months, and during that time she has been out of school and will have to repeat the year. Cheshire High School is now checking every school sport, contact or non-contact for head injuries.

I think that is very smart and that they should have done this from the beginning. Concussions are very common now and extremely dangerous. An injury can result in any sport.

~Danielle Grenon