All of my devoted readers (Hi Mom!) know that my son had had his share of concussions playing sports. In the Fall of 2007, he landed on his head in a soccer game. Spring of '08 there was the baseball that hit him in the head/eye .. and the last Fall - he was hit in the side head with a line-drive soccer ball.
Concussion #3 within 12 months was almost the last piece of straw on the camel's back. With each successive concussion, the injury was worse - even though the inciting events may actually have been similar in severity.
While the parents' decisions on matters like this are of course always public - in this case - they also reflect my medical decision-making skills (or lack thereof!) as many of the parents and kids on the community have known me as their family physician. So while I would need to make the right decision for Sam - I also need to make sure that other parents understand the rationale for the decisions - and perhaps help use these events to bring about a change.
After a full recovery - we agreed to allow him to return to playing soccer with one caveat: he is required to wear a
soccer helmet. he will always wear the headgear when he plays soccer. If he forgets it for a practice or game - he doesn't play. when he goes to college he will wear it. If he ends up being a pro soccer player - the headgear will be there.
Why will he always wear this?
- It may prevent another concussion
- It's comfortable and doesn't interfere with his play at all
- If he has another concussion - the outcome will be even worse. It could even kill him
Would soccer headgear protect other kids from this?
Yes.
Here's a recent study that demonstrates the protective effect of headgear in real soccer players - and is associated with a significantly lower incidence of concussion in boys. Other studies (
here,
here and
here) showed that in lab experiments - headgear reduces the force of impact when heading the ball.
A
recent study demonstrated that the protective effect may not be present for girls.
As I read these papers - and others - it becomes clear that much of the focus is on
heading, but heading is certainly not the only reason kids get concussions. In Sam's case - none of the events involved Sam's volitional
heading of a ball. Indeed -
this paper looked at the causes of concussions in soccer players and found that:
The most frequent injury mechanism was elbow to head contact, followed by head to head contact in heading duels.
So perhaps girls would still be protected - as they would have SOMETHING between that head and the oncoming elbow!
There is a conversation now beginning amongst some of the team parents about whether headgear should be required of all players.
Argument for having all kids wear them:
- It will prevent concussions. Note that I didn't say might prevent concussions.
Arguments against:
- They look dorky
- They are expensive
Obviously - I had to put these two out on the table. The kids will object because they are dorky and the parents will object because they cost $35. I'm sure we can buy them in bulk to save some money - or perhaps we don't really NEED those cool matching back-packs with the embroidered names on them. Remember when people didn't wear bike helmets? Ski helmets? Seat belts? How long do we have to wait before we get smart here?
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