Schutt(orange) and Riddell (blue) helmets in use
Photo Courtsey of Marshall Brady

Recently in all contact sports we have seen concussions on the rise and an increased paranoia on the behalf of players, coaches and parents alike. Many equipment makes are racing frantically to create the latest so-called “concussion-proof” helmet and players are racing to get them. Recently we have seen some of sports biggest names such as Sidney Crosby, Austin Collie and Reggie Bush all sidelined with concussions.

                First I will explain what concussions are and what some of the symptoms that comes along with them.  Firstly a concussion is in layman’s terms bruising of the brain. This can come anytime the head is hit, or hits something. Contrary to popular belief concussions can be attained from soft hits, not just the bone crushing ones that we see on TV every week. Some of the symptoms are nausea and vomiting, confusions, loss of balance, headache, memory loss and seeing stars.

                Like any other injury, once you have sustained one concussion you are much more likely for a recurrence of the injury, as we have seen with Sidney Crosby in the past two seasons.  Once it becomes sever enough you can get something called post concussion syndrome (PCS) which is horrible for your brain, because it basically means that parts of it have turned to mush. Lately there have been many deaths of ex-NFL players where PCS was suspected to have played a role in; and there is now a brain bank that ex-pro athletes can donate their brains to for post mortem examination, so that more research can be done into the danger or playing contact sports.

                In recent years much has gone into helmet innovation to help protect the heads of players with Riddell creating the innovative Revolution Speed and IQ system which tracks hits to the head and how hard they are and then reports it to a computer, Schutt with the Ion 4D which has a cushioned face mask which is meant to absorb some of the impact of hits before they get to your head, and the supposedly “concussion proof” Xenith helmet which has a state of the art chin strap and a interior padding.

                Hopefully sports can find some definitive solution to the concussion problem because it sucks having to see star athletes with promising futures having their careers ruined because they took one hard hit too many. Through equipment innovation and rule changes though I see a promising future, that will provide for better athlete safety.