Posts Tagged ‘Womens Sports’
Female Athletes Are Closing The Gender Gap When It Comes To Concussions
A recent NPR article by Jon Hamilton highlights the fact that, in terms of concussion, women are fast closing the gender gap. Previously, one of the issues in understanding the gendered response to head injuries has been the lack of research into women’s concussion.
Read MoreWhy Does it Seem Like Nobody Cares About Female Concussion?
Women suffer more concussions than men in the sports that both play, with an injury rate 50 percent higher, according to the most recent research. Female athletes with brain trauma tend to suffer different symptoms, take longer to recover and hold back information about their injuries for different reasons than males.
Read MoreThe Head Injury Our Kids Are Still Getting
When people talk about concussions (and their after-effects), they’re often talking about football. But Blue Cross Blue Shield this week released a new report showing that female concussion diagnoses increased 43 percent from 2010 through 2015 in the U.S. But where does the responsibility lie for preventing and addressing concussions, no matter what sport (and at what age) the athletes are playing?
Read MoreNew National Survey Finds Sports Concussions are more Prevalent, Harder on Women
Now, according to a new study by the Women Sports Safety Initiative (WSSI), we can glean that women and girls suffer higher rates of concussions, take longer to recover from those concussions, and are often more severely impacted due to hormonal differences. In short, concussions are much worse on women than they are on men.
Read MoreWomen’s Sports Safety Initiative: an Interview with Founder Mary Hayashi
One topic in particular that I am passionate about is concussion safety and during my time in the state legislature, I authored a number of bills focused on this topic, including AB 25, a concussion safety bill that placed California alongside Washington as the states with the toughest return-to-play laws for student athletes, into law.
Read MoreWhat If We Stopped Putting Youth With Concussions Back in the Game?
The culture of “staying in the game” is changing, but kids still believe they need to be tough and play through injuries. Too often, they’re afraid to tell their coaches, trainers or parents when they think they have a concussion. Training coaches to recognize the signs and symptoms of concussion will help ensure athletes are removed as soon as possible and reduce their risk for further injury.
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