Category Archives: Health

Lacrosse Injuries: “Decompression Nerve Surgery” Is A New Treatment For Severe “Post-Concussion Headaches”; Minimally Invasive Procedure Has Up To 95% Success Rate For Young Athletes

Posted on May 20, 2013 | Leave a comment

“…Soccer is definitely high, and basketball, lacrosse, football obviously, as well.  And believe it or not, even cheerleaders can have that with falls and direct head  injuries… surgery is an option if the Concussion Legislationheadaches persist after three months of  traditional treatment and a full neurological evaluation…the surgery is remarkably effective and has been successful in 95  percent of the kids he has treated…”

“What is absolutely astonishing is to take somebody who literally can’t study,  can’t work, can’t function normally, can’t live without medications, to be able to  have more than 90 percent of success is truly amazing,” he says.

It wasn’t the first time Hollie Byer was hit in the head  while playing soccer. But this concussion was very different. The 18-year-old from Olney, Maryland started having terrible headaches that would  not go away. The pain lasted for months — through doctor visits and traditional  drug therapy.

Peripheral Nerve InstituteThen, her neurologist, Dr. Kevin Crutchfield, started talking about something new.    The Baltimore-based physician sent her to Dr. Ivan Ducic, director of the  Peripheral Nerve Surgery Institute at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital.

Ducic is pioneering what some consider a radical idea to treat post-concussion  headaches caused by nerve damage. His approach is a new twist on an existing  procedure used to treat carpal tunnel syndrome.

Using tiny incisions, Ducic moves aside or slightly shaves tissue that is pressing  on the damaged nerve. He says it is like unbuttoning a shirt or tie that is so  tight around the neck, it restricts breathing.

“The surgery technically undoes the pressure on the nerves so the nerve can  function back again normally,” he says.

Ducic explains that decompression nerve surgery only takes about 60 to 90 minutes,   is almost always done on an out-patient basis and is considered minimally  invasive, requiring only a few stitches and no hair loss.

After receiving the treatment, Byer was able to return home the same day as the  procedure. She says the headaches went away almost immediately.

For more:  http://www.wtop.com/267/3329570/Relieving-concussion-related-headaches-

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Lacrosse Injuries: Pennsylvania High School Girls Lacrosse Team Using New “Kevlar Composite Protective Headband” In Pilot Program To Help Protect Players From Concussions (Video)

Posted on May 17, 2013 | Leave a comment

Unequal Technologies Kevlar Composite Headband For Concussion Protection

Unequal Technologies Kevlar Composite Headband For Concussion Protection

The same padding used to protect Ben Roethlisberger, Charlie Batch and James Harrison from hard hits is now being tested by student athletes at an Allegheny County high school.

Quaker Valley freshman Aubrey Bouchard missed nearly four months of school with two concussions playing sports.

“(There was) dizziness, (I was) not able to concentrate,” she said of her injury.

Nellie Kraus, coach of the girls’ lacrosse team at Quaker Valley High School, was so concerned about concussions, her team became part of a pilot program to test a new Kevlar composite headband.

“I see girls with symptoms of concussions on a weekly basis,” she said.

There are no helmets in girls’ lacrosse but Kraus said the play can get pretty physical.

“There’s multiple properties going on in the composite that enables us to absorb anywhere from up to 50 percent of the impact,” Rob Vito, CEO of Unequal Technologies said while showing Channel 11 the padding.

Unequal Technologies is a Pennsylvania company that created the Band, an adjustable protective headband.

“It conforms to the body. It’s flexible and malleable, but it can stop a truck,” Vito said.

“In practice I got hit in the head with a stick and I was thankfully wearing my headband that could have been my third concussion,” said Bouchard.

When the girls first got the Band, they were a quarter of an inch thick.

They told company leaders they were too uncomfortable, so Unequal went back to the drawing board and readjusted.

Now, the Band is one-eighth of an inch thick.

For more:  http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/product-designed-better-protect-athletes-concussio/nXs3D/

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Injuries In Lacrosse: US Lacrosse Endorses “Youth Sports Concussion Act”, Congressional Legislation That Increases Disclosure Of “Protective Benefits And Limitations Of Sports Equipment”

Posted on May 14, 2013 | Leave a comment

“US Lacrosse supports efforts, such as the Youth Sports Concussion Act, which seek to increase the accountability of sporting goods Concussion Legislationmanufacturers to accurately represent the protective benefits and limitations of equipment to mitigate injury and risk,” said Ann Carpenetti, managing director of game administration at US Lacrosse. “We have invested extensively in the area of injury research and prevention in the sport of lacrosse, and having sport specific equipment that performs to meet a protective standard is critically important to ensure player safety on the field.”

US Lacrosse is among the national sports organizations publicly endorsing the Youth Sports Concussion Act, a new bill that is expected to be introduced shortly US Lacrosse Sports Science & Safetyin the U.S. Senate. The proposed congressional legislation is aimed at reducing youth sports concussions by empowering both the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Federal Trade Commission to take stronger actions in guaranteeing equipment safety standards and claims by sporting goods manufacturers. Congressman Tom Udall (D-N.M.) is the primary sponsor of the bill.

Essentially, the new legislation hopes to extend the impact of the findings from a National Academies report on sports-related concussions, due to be released publicly no later than January 2014. That report is expected to include product safety standards that equipment manufacturers will need to consider for voluntary adoption.

The proposed bill also allows the Federal Trade Commission to take stronger action against manufacturers who make false and deceptive product safety claims in advertising and marketing campaigns.

The U.S. Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will be charged with initial review and approval of the bill before it advances to the full Senate for consideration.

To date, the Youth Sports Concussion Act has received public endorsements from numerous organizations and associations, including the American Academy of Neurology, Brain Injury Association of America, Brain Trauma Foundation, Cleveland Clinic, National Association of State Head Injury Administrators, National Athletic Trainers’ Association, National Football League, NFL Players Association, NCAA, National Hockey League, National Federation of State High School Associations, and U.S. Soccer.

About US Lacrosse
US Lacrosse, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, is the national governing body for men’s and women’s lacrosse. US Lacrosse is the parent organization of the U.S. men’s and women’s national teams program. US Lacrosse has more than 415,000 members in 64 regional chapters around the country. Through responsive and effective leadership, US Lacrosse strives to provide programs and services to inspire participation while protecting the integrity of the game.
 – See more at: http://www.uslacrosse.org/TopNav/NewsandMedia/PressReleases/USLEndorsesConcussionLegislation.aspx#sthash.QM4kSC8N.dpuf

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Injuries In Lacrosse: “Should Helmets Be Required In Women’s Lacrosse”, A Chicago Tribune Video Interview Of An Illinois High School Girls Lacrosse Player Who Suffered Four Concussions

Posted on May 10, 2013 | Leave a comment

Chicago Tribune reporter John Keilman interviews Sara Letmanski, a Glenbard West senior who has suffered four concussions as a result of playing lacrosse.

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Lacrosse Injuries: Concussions In Youth Sports, Especially Among Girls, Are Rising Due To “More Games Being Played At Higher Level Of Competition”; Helmets And Specialized Mouth Guards Do Not Prevent Concussions

Posted on May 5, 2013 | Leave a comment

“They certainly play more games than ever and more games at a higher level of competition,” said Dr. Kevin Walter of the concussion clinic at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. “They extend Concussion Legislationthemselves more than ever. And with all the specialized training, they are bigger, faster and stronger. It adds up.”

Helmets, specialized mouth guards and headbands do not prevent concussions. “There is no known way to prevent concussions,” Stein said. “We love helmets and mouth guards; they protect your skull and your teeth. But they won’t stop a concussion from happening.”

Youth sports concussion clinics operate at the center of America’s heightened newyorktimes-logoawareness and increasing worry about concussions among young athletes. Listening to the hundreds of stories of how concussions have occurred, examining patients and monitoring their recoveries, the doctors and staff members are a repository of anecdotal and medical concussion information.

  • Female patients are making up a larger percentage of the clinics’ overall concussion patient population, a percentage that continues to rise year to year.“People used to say this was happening because female athletes are more likely than male athletes to report their concussion symptoms, but not many of us believe that is the reason any longer,” said Dr. Cynthia Stein of Boston Children’s Hospital. “Female athletes are just as aggressive about wanting to stay on the playing field, but maybe their sports are getting rougher.“Forty-one percent of our new patients are now female, which is a huge amount when you consider that the No. 1 sport causing concussions is football, and that’s nearly all male.”
  • Many concussions seem to result from a hit the young athlete does not see coming. It is not just blindside hits in football; it is collisions in which only one party is braced for the collision, as seen in checking sports like lacrosse and hockey. Many soccer players are injured when they are hit in the head by a kicked ball at close range that they did not see coming, especially blows that came from the side or behind them.Doctors again have theorized that girding the neck for a collision or a blow to the head could be the body’s way of protecting the brain. If the blow comes without warning, that layer of fortification is not engaged.“As coaches always say, ‘Keep your head on a swivel so you know what’s going on around you,’ ” said Dr. Michael O’Brien at Boston Children’s Hospital. “It might be good advice for a lot of reasons.”

For more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/06/sports/anecdotal-evidence-offers-clues-to-youth-concussions.html?_r=0

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Lacrosse Injuries: Lake Brantley Girls Lacrosse Team (FL) Reports That Fifteen Players Suffered Concussions During 2013 Season (Video)

Posted on April 26, 2013 | Leave a comment

Male athletes and concussions, especially on the football field, have been the focus of significant research, but local experts said female athletes are now suffering more and more concussions.

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Lacrosse Injuries: “Concussions In Youth Sports” Have Become An Epidemic In Recent Years (Video)

Posted on April 11, 2013 | Leave a comment

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Injuries In Lacrosse: Stanford Researchers Collecting Data From Football And Women’s Lacrosse To Understand “Mechanics” Of Head Injuries That Cause Concussions (Video)

Posted on November 21, 2012 | Leave a comment

The researchers have been focusing on football this fall but have been collecting data from field hockey and women’s lacrosse – sports where the athletes don’t wear helmets but do wear mouth guards.

Stanford researchers have turned the school’s football practices into a living laboratory in an effort to understand the mechanics of what happens to the head and neck when a head injury occurs.

The hope is that once researchers determine what forces cause a concussion, they can start improving sports equipment and rules to reduce injuries.

The data from this season also suggest that the standard lab tests used to simulate hits to the head are not always accurate representations of what occurs on the field. The tests do not re-create the rotational forces players experience well, researchers said, and experts think rotational movement plays an important role in causing a head injury.

For their research, scientists have placed sensors on the athletes’ helmets and have been filming them in action with high-definition, super-slow-motion cameras to monitor the speed the head is traveling before and after impact.

The players also wear special mouth guards with accelerometers and gyrometers embedded in them that gauge the linear and rotational acceleration of the head during a hit.

They plan to compare the data from contacts that lead to concussions with the non-concussive impacts to see what, if any, differences there are.

“We’ve got a really unique opportunity to get the data that matters the most – the human data,” said David Camarillo, an assistant professor of bioengineering.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/collegesports/article/Stanford-analyzes-athletes-concussions-4055088.php#ixzz2CuCcdUTZ

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Lacrosse Safety: US Lacrosse Working With ASTM International To Develop “Soft Headgear” Standard For Head Injury Prevention In Women’s Lacrosse

Posted on November 16, 2012 | Leave a comment

At the request of US Lacrosse, the national governing body of men’s and women’s lacrosse in the United States, ASTM International Committee F08 on Sports Equipment and Facilities is developing a proposed new standard that will specifically cover headgear used in women’s lacrosse.

WK36457, Specification for Headgear Used in Women’s Lacrosse, is under the jurisdiction of Subcommittee F08.53 on Headgear and Helmets.

Ann Kitt Carpenetti, managing director of game administration, US Lacrosse, and an F08.53 member, says that the rules of women’s lacrosse have always allowed for soft headgear to be worn to protect a pre-existing laceration or suture but that this allowance predates by decades the deeper understanding of concussion injury that has recently emerged, as well as any research on the nature of injuries in women’s lacrosse.

Among the possible hurdles in product design of women’s headgear may be integrating it with current protective equipment used in girls’ and women’s lacrosse, specifically, eyewear. Photo by John Strohsacker/LaxPhotos.com

“There is currently no headgear standard specific to the unique rules, culture and injury mechanism of women’s lacrosse, although we can certainly share examples of soft headgear that is currently allowed by the rules,” says Carpenetti. She also notes that significant differences between men’s and women’s lacrosse, especially with respect to stick and body contact, indicates that the protective equipment requirements for women’s lacrosse should be evaluated and considered independently from the men’s game.

F08.53 welcomes a wide variety of participants in the ongoing development of WK36457. This includes women’s lacrosse players, coaches, officials, administrators and parents who have experience with the sport and its culture. Recently completed and ongoing research projects, including some funded by US Lacrosse, into the nature and mechanisms of head injuries in women’s lacrosse also will factor into the development of a women’s lacrosse-specific headgear standard.

“We are also interested in bringing in sports medicine and concussion experts — researchers and clinicians who have an appreciation for the types of head injuries seen in women’s lacrosse,” says Carpenetti. “We are interested in bringing members of the lacrosse industry who understand the differences between the men’s and women’s game and understand the desire of the governing body to establish a game-appropriate standard.”

CONTACT Technical Information: Ann Kitt Carpenetti, US Lacrosse • Baltimore, Md. • Phone: 410-235-6882, ext. 117 | ASTM Staff: Rick Lake • Phone: 610-832-9689 | Upcoming Meeting: Nov. 14-16 • November Committee Week • Atlanta, Ga.

For more:  http://www.astm.org/COMMITTEE/F08.htm

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Concussions In Lacrosse: “US Lacrosse Sports Science And Safety Committee” Sponsors Study To “Understand Relationship Between Stick Checks And Head Injuries” In Women’s Lacrosse (Video)

Posted on August 10, 2012 | Leave a comment

Dr. Trey Crisco, a member of the US Lacrosse Sports Science and Safety Committee, led a July 26 “crash test dummy” research session at Brown University, where several female lacrosse players, aged 12 to 28, were asked to take 36 swings at a headform.

“The primary aim of this part of our study is to understand the relationship between stick checks and head accelerations. This grant that we received through both US Lacrosse and NOCSAE is just one piece in trying to understand what the potential injury mechanism is for head injuries in girls’ lacrosse. Previously, there have been epidemiological studies and surveillance studies that have found that the majority of head injuries in girls’ lacrosse occur from the stick. These are inadvertent, obviously, and could be a result of follow-throughs from shots, or fore checks. Unlike the boys’ game, where head injuries are dominated by body-to-body or head-to-head contact, in the girls, we don’t see that; but we are seeing the stick impacting the head. So the goal of this study was to get an understanding of the relationship between the severity of the stick checks and the resulting head accelerations.”

“That’s the holy grail of concussion studies, to document the relationship between head acceleration and concussion. We’re not there yet. We know that above 90Gs or 120Gs, you are more likely than not to get a concussion, but there’s not a definitive threshold. It’s unlikely that there will be across all people because people are different and there’s variability. But there are other factors, like where you get hit and what your previous exposures were. We’re still in the process, through other studies, of coming up with that relationship.”

For more:  http://www.laxmagazine.com/high_school/girls/2011-12/news/080912_study_leader_explains_crash_test_dummy_head_trials

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