Healthy Habits: Hearing Loss and Football

Joining sports is a fun moment for most kids. Whether it's sports like tennis or a contact sport like football, kids learn invaluable skills from all sports. They become leaders, team players and physically fit. They also push themselves to go farther and learn interesting strategies that can help them with other aspects of life. Coaches can be incredible mentors and fellow players become lifetime friends. As a parent, sports can mean a variety of things for our children, but with all of these benefits that sports have, participation also comes with a high risk for injury. For that reason, parents and children must become more educated on these injuries and ways in which they can help prevent them.

Recently the NFL has taken a proactive approach in trying to make the game of football safer for it’s players. Along with many rule changes to the game of football, the NFL has created a campaign called NFL Evolution. The campaign’s main focus is to raises awareness around sports injuries and to also help educate parents and children about the injuries and ways in which they can prevent theses injuries from occurring. As a parent, I'm happy to see that a high level organization like this really wants to people to understand that all injuries can be prevented. By making kids and parents more aware of issues, it can help them on the field and also ensure that children understand the importance of safety gear and regulations.

A variety of injuries can occur from participating in contact sports. Some of the most common injuries are concussions, ligament tears and heat related injuries. Below is some information about these injuries and ways in which they can be prevented.

Understanding Head Injuries

A big hit to the head can lead to a variety of problems for players. Concussions are minor traumatic brain events that happen when an object or another player hits the head in some way with too much force. Symptoms of concussions include headache, confusion, nausea and even memory loss. There are some head injuries that can be attributed to hearing loss. This issue has really taken center stage in recent years. The NFL Players Association has partnered with EarQ, a hearing aid supplier, to bring awareness for hearing loss among football players and to help treat former NFL players who currently are affected by hearing loss. Here are a few ways to help protect against head injuries:

* Wear the right headgear for the game, whether it's hockey, baseball, lacrosse or football.

* Helmet must fit the player's head appropriately so that it doesn't slip off during play.

* Children must be taught the proper way to use force and body movement in sports. They should understand that hitting with their head in a block can be dangerous. Kids become better players if they receive coaching and help from parents to learn how to better use their body for the sport.

* Never wait to get a child checked out after a big hit to the head. At any time you think a concussion may have occurred, take the player to a doctor.

* No player should return to the game until fully healed. All injuries must be healed 100 percent before getting back onto the playing field.

Common Knee Injuries

Another major injury that football players along with all other athletes often go through is ligament tears in the knee. The knee is a vulnerable spot on the human body. An injury to this part of the leg can severely punish and limit the movement of a player. ACL tears are probably the most common knee injury and one of the worst to receive. The ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) keeps everything together and moving properly in the knee. It's what helps you rotate and pivot, so an injury to this limits your ability to do the most basic movements including jumping and running. There are ways to also protect against these injuries.

* Do training drills that specifically build agility and balance in players.

* Build up the muscles around the knee to make sure it's better protected and will decrease the chance of tearing an ACL.

* Do warm-ups and cool down stretching before and after games. It's important to keep muscles loose.

* For any knee problems, take the necessary time off to heal. Players should contact a doctor and seek out rehabilitation help for more serious knee injuries.

Other Injuries

Since contact sports are often played outside, there can be other injuries such as heat stroke and dehydration that come into play. For these, it's important that players recognize when they need rest and to stay hydrated. Many of these problems occur more often in hotter weather. Training camps that are held in the summer must pay close attention to the heat so that players are consistently kept safe from overheating.

Hi my name is John O'Connor, I am a father, outdoorsman, sports enthusiast and passionate about living a healthy lifestyle.  Check out my new blog at bloggingwjohno.blogspot.com!