You hear it in every sport played. When a player hits the ground or gets smacked into an object it is often an injury worth calling a concussion. What is a concussion? A concussion is a traumatic brain injury that can lead to memory loss, nausea, headache, and if bad enough can lead to syncope or fainting. The huge structure of billions of nerves is what sets humans apart from other mammals. How can this structure be tossed around and still function and how bad can a concussion be?

A concussion is a type of brain injury that happens when the brain is knocked around within the skull and it can lead to numerous injuries and symptoms. But when asked to list the actual symptoms of a concussion only very few people can list them all. An Ipswich High School student, Jack Miller, is familiar with an injury that plaques both his sports as Baseball and Boxing. When asked what the symptoms of a concussion are he replied with “yeah, it’s forgetting basic information and passing out.” While these are some of the symptoms theses are among the more drastic ones. Jack Miller is among a vast group of people that do not know how far a concussion can go.

Whether or not it comes to Football or Soccer, every sport has its concussions. Some sports have higher rates of concussions versus others. How the rate of concussions is measured is per 10,000 high school athletes. Out of all high school athletes, the rate of concussions is 4.17% (per 10,000). Football, of course, being one of the higher concussion rates but not by much. Football has a concussion rate of 10.4%. Following behind football in the highest concussion rates is girls Soccer with a rate of 8.19. Right behind girls Soccer is boys ice Hockey at a rate of 7.69. So as you can see the rate of concussions between sports is not vastly different. The highest sport in terms of concussions is Football with only 1,000 concussions reported. Football over the years has gotten much safer. Along with lots of other sports.

Practicing with your team or playing against another, concussions can happen any time during both practice and games. The rate of concussions again per 10,000 exposures during games is at a 33.19 rate. The rate of concussions during practice is surprisingly higher, coming in at a 39.07 concussion rate. Within these rates of concussions, there are different percentages on how they happen. 62% of concussions happen by contact with another person. 17.5% of concussions happen due to impacts on surfaces. 16% are caused by collisions with equipment.

To be cleared of a concussion you need a doctor to note that says you’re clear to go back to sports, then it would be up to an Athletic Trainer to give the final all-clear to your coach. This process consists of multiple days, day one is running a mile, days two and three consist of running a mile and completing multiple circuits that are required based on the sport you play. A concussion is a very real injury that plaques sports. The process of getting cleared of a concussion is not as daunting as it seems and depends on what your school Athletic Trainer wants to test you on.

Concussions are a dangerous and a real injury that plaques many sports. The human brain is an extremely vital and sensitive control center. The rates of concussions vary with the sport and the severity of a concussion is dependent on the sport itself. As the rates fluctuate and students-athletes get injured, equipment will keep getting better and making the sport safer. But for now, this is how the concussion rates compare between each sport.