Did you watch the Olympics? Families all over the world came together to watch their favorite athletes compete for gold. These performances were often breathtaking and inspiring, but a few were harrowing. Did you cheer on an Olympian that played on even after they became injured? Would you do the same for your child when they are playing sports? If you answered yes to these questions, then a new study might come as a shock to your system.
Why Is Playing Through the Pain a Bad Idea?
Tradition has dictated that athletes should suck it up and play through their physical pains. However, athletic organizations have started to see the flaw in this logic. These sports leagues are now telling young athletes not to play through the pain, especially when it comes to symptoms of concussions. But would you believe that these organizations never had scientific data to back up this position? Well, they do now.
Four universities teamed up to study the effects of benching a player after they had suffered a concussion, and what researchers found was both astonishing and expected. As it turns out, the study found that athletes who stopped playing after suffering a concussion, generally recovered from their injury in about 22 days. However, if an athlete suffers a concussion and decides to play on, their recovery can often last up to 44 days.
These athletes who kept playing after suffering a concussion often also experienced more severe symptoms. This meant their cognitive performances were hampered as were their psychosocial interactions. For student-athletes that means playing with a concussion could affect their performance in the classroom later.
This new study now provides scientific evidence that newer sports concussion treatments are heading in the right direction, but you may still need to protect your child. Some coaches refuse to recognize that concussions can hurt their players well beyond the sports field, so don’t let your kids play injured, and keep following our blog to find out more about protecting your family’s athletes while they are out there on the field.
Brought to you by the personal injury lawyers of Colson Hicks Eidson.