Concussions or mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a head injury that consists of temporary loss of brain function. Symptoms can manifest in a variety of physical, cognitive and emotional. A person whole receives an mTBI can show signs of temporary motor loss, memory loss and in some causes mood changes such as depression. To this day the best treatment for mTBIs is still to get plenty of rest and avoid physical and mental excursion like sports and school. 1.6-3.8 million athletes suffer from concussions yearly. These concussions are most commonly found in contact sports like football and boxing. Due to the serious nature of these injuries many have questioned the actions in these sports. Football on all levels has been brought under the microscope on this topic extensively in the last decade. Before this football has had an almost violent nature to it. Some would even say there was even a promotion of this violent nature by certain parties and individuals. However, the cover ups about the long term effects of concussions could no longer stay hidden which is why most recently those parties and individuals have changed them game. Main rules have changed to reduce the number of concussions all the way from little league to the NFL. However, some of these changes have made some parts of the game worthless. Most noticeable is the kick off in football. The caliber of kickers in the NFL are so high that main of them can kick the ball out the back of the end-zone without even trying. This simple change of moving the football up 5 yards practically eliminates the kick off as a whole. It has also eliminated a lot of big hits from the game even though some are just good defensive tackles. The fear of being ejected or fined for performing well dwells in the back of players mines. This is not saying that these rules do not have their place in the game. The main reason for they are there is to insure the safe of the players, but how far is too far? Has safety gone too far already or has it not gone far enough? These are the big questions that have not been answered yet.
Concussions and their effects on sports
