Would you let your kids play contact sports?

Yes, as to concussions that blog article summarizes:

  • Most concussive injuries in football are due to head-to-head contact rather than ball to head contact (7).

  • Concussion due to head impact is caused by forces that result in head accelerations – heading a ball results in head accelerations of less than 10g, whereas the minimum required for SRC is generally 40-60g. The average head-to-head impact is typically around 25-30g (8,9).

  • Players that play in positions where heading is common also have an increased risk of head-to-head collisions, mostly in aerial duels (7).

  • Heading the ball can result in sub-concussive impacts – and repeated heading can contribute to cognitive impairment as a separate risk factor to concussion (10).

Those numbers in parens are citations.

2 Likes