The effects of concussions | The Lode at Michigan Tech

Hockey is, and always has been, a hard-hitting contact sport. Don?t expect to go out there on the ice and have the opposing players to leave you alone completely?there will be some physical contact between their bodies and your?s. Like any sport, injuries are expected, and some are more severe than others. Circulating in the news recently was Pittsburgh Penguins Captain Sidney Crosby and his consecutive concussion diagnoses and neck injury. This injury, as well as the heightened number of concussion and body-checking related injuries to the players? heads in recent years, has sparked talks in the National Hockey League (NHL) and many other parts of the sports world, about changes to regulations in reference to contact to a player?s head or neck. Some lower leagues have restrictions on whether or not you can hit and in what ways?but what if this form of contact was banned from all leagues everywhere, including the NHL, in order to prevent serious head and neck injuries that sustain lasting effects?

Dr. Syd Johnson, assistant professor of philosophy and adjunct professor of kinesiology and integrative physiology here at Michigan Tech, wrote an article published in April of 2011 where she proposed to ?break the cycle? of concussions (and subsequently, other head/neck injuries) in youth hockey. ?My research involves reading the medical literature and writing about it from a bioethical perspective.? Johnson said. Her responses have been published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, the American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience and, forthcoming in April of 2012, the Journal of School Health. She also presented her research at a conference in Rome, Italy 2010; an open sports forum in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2011; and has done a lot of work in Canada, including radio interviews and television appearances.

Johnson argues that, ?because body checking is the dominant mechanism of brain injury and concussion in hockey, it should be eliminated from recreational hockey.? She suggests that changes need to be made to the rules and modes of play in order to better protect players from injury.

Dreaming of the NHL and ?going pro? is on the minds of young hockey players everywhere. ?Younger, smaller players are more vulnerable to concussions for both physiological reasons, and because of size and skill differences between players,? Johnson said. Johnson believes most of the changes need to be done at the youth levels. Because these younger kids are mostly playing for recreation and fun, more training should be done and changes should be made to protect them when they are young and, in that, protecting them as adults.

According to Johnson, if a player makes it to a higher league, they?ll have most likely been playing the sport for 10 years or more and, in that time, experienced some form of injury. The risk cannot be eliminated completely, Johnson says. ?One way to protect adult athletes without changing anything about the way professional sports are played is to just protect them better when they?re kids.? Teaching young players, in leagues where body checking is admissible, to stay away from hits to the head and neck area will ultimately prevent them from inflicting future injuries, intentional or not.

Contrary to popular belief, helmets are not advantageous in preventing concussions. Helmets became mandatory for all players in 1979, but that piece of equipment is designed to stop fractures to the skull, as Johnson explains. ?Helmets are designed to prevent fatal skull fractures. Concussion is a different kind of injury; it occurs when an impact to the head or body occurs that essentially jogs the brain inside the skull. Your brain and body are moving in one direction, but when you get hit, your body stops, and your brain, inside your skull, keeps moving until it bumps into your skull. That?s how concussions happen.? Helmet?s makes it easier to for players to hit one another much harder than they would if they were not wearing a helmet, causing much concern and, sometimes, more injuries.

The supporting evidence is overwhelming and it has gained attention across the board. According to nhl.com and the rules posted there for the National Hockey League in reference to ?illegal hits to the head?, Rule 48 states ?A hit resulting in contact with an opponent?s head where the head is targeted and the principal point of contact is not permitted. However, in determining whether such a hit should have been permitted, the circumstances of the hit, including whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position immediately prior to or simultaneously with the hit or the head contact on an otherwise legal body check was avoidable, can be considered.? Implemented into the NHL rulebooks for the 2011-2012 season, Rule 48 was written so players would know they would be punished if they inflicted a ?lateral or blindside hit where the head is the principal area of target? (nhl.com). The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the NCAA and the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), already ban their players from body hits to the head, and some players in the NHL would like to see that change come to their league.

In September of 2011, the New York Times published an article in their sports section about the debate, quoting Steven Stamkos of the Tampa bay Lightning saying, ?We have to be accountable as players for where our shoulders are or where our elbows are when you go to make a hit.? In the article, Stamkos goes on to say, ?If a guy?s in a vulnerable position, don?t hit him. Take the puck, rub him out; you don?t have to hit him ? hopefully that will prevent some more concussions.?(New York Times)

Stamkos, a well-known player and NHL star, has a point. Players should not deliberately try and smash another to boost their ego. As a player, no matter the level, you?ve been practicing and working towards becoming a better player since the day you first stepped out on the ice. Don?t throw is all away because you want to prove how tough you are. And if you are in a situation when you feel like you?re going to be hit hard, try and protect yourself in the best way you can; keep your eyes open and be aware of what (and who) is around you.

Beneath the NHL, leagues such as the NCAA and WCHA have specific rules for body contact to the head. Husky?s Head Coach Mel Pearson will express his thoughts on this same topic in an article to be published in next week?s edition of the Lode?make sure to watch for it.

If you?re interested in learning more about her research and the changes she would like to see in hockey and other contact sports? regulations, Syd Johnson can be reached via email at (lsjohnso@mtu.edu). The New York Times article can be read online by scanning the QR code below.

Source: http://www.mtulode.com/news/2012/02/07/the-effects-of-concussions/

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