Athletic Training and Its Effects on the Lives

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Preston Plevretes Video
Patrick Larimore
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

Athletic training may involve injuries on the part of the trainer or the athletes. Some of the injuries are superficial. However, others, such as the brain and spinal injury are grave and may even result in death or permanent impairment. This paper focuses on concussions and the effects they have on the lives of athletes. A concussion is a brain injury that is caused by the violent hitting of the head. It leads to vigorous shaking of the brain within the skull. The severity of a concussion can be detected by symptoms such as nausea, headache, ringing in the ears, balance, concentration, and memory problems, as well as oscillating levels of consciousness. Brain injury is catastrophic to a maturing brain. Concussions are very common among athletes. Its effects are only momentarily felt, thus leaving no visible symptoms. However, for a mild concussion, investigation and treatment should be offered immediately. When an athlete develops brain injury, he or she should rest and avoid medication, alcohol, and stress. Certified Athletic Trainers (ATCs) should be extremely sensitive to the modes in which traumatic brain injury (TBI) manifests itself. It may appear as severe cerebral concussion, moderate, or a mild TBI. The most severe concussions may impair sensitive parts of the brain, such as the brain stem.

At the time of injury, concussion management is vital. The ATC should actively participate in providing awareness among coaches, athletes, and even their parents about the symptoms that indicate a concussion and the importance of managing it immediately and effectively. Team physicians should be aware of an array of test methods that are required to determine whether a player suffers a concussion. Before the beginning of each playing season, such tests should be carried out on all athletes, even those who have displayed no symptoms. Such an evaluation will help to reduce the severity of the impacts of head hitting. After treatment, the other important assessment is whether the player is ready to return to play. Such evaluations must involve both postural-stability and neurocognitive testing. For athletes who engage in sports, which bear a high concussion risk, additional tests to the cranial nerves and cervical spine should be made to detect any possible injury. The reason why such tests are imperative is that suffering a subsequent concussion before recovering from a previous one is ruinous.

Preston Plevretes Video

The video depicts the devastating consequences of concussion in Preston Plevretes’ life. The brain injuries he suffered changed him from a popular, independent, and energetic football player to a young man who currently needs constant care because he can longer do all things he would desire to accomplish (Preston Plevretes Story). The injury caused him to have unclear speech. He developed difficulties in coordinating his limb motion. His situation confirms the serious implication of the failure to diagnose or properly treat concussions. Plevretes’ concussion had been diagnosed, but there was negligence in its management. The call for him to return to play by the students’ nurse was a costly error (Preston Plevretes Story). Therefore, his predicament can be attributed to the laxity displayed by the medical practitioners who allowed him back on the field to play before recovering from his first concussion. As an athlete, he was also ignorant of the dire results of playing when suffering from a concussion. The other failure was on the part of the athletic trainers who did not take the needed safety tests to ensure that Plevretes was fit to play. Athletic trainers play a great role in the decisions that athletes make in relation to the sport. Being more aware and attentive can significantly reduce the number of permanent brain injuries suffered by athletes. The nurses did not do tests to determine whether or not the athlete was symptom-free. Deriving from Plevretes’ story, there is a need to ensure that proper treatment is carried out on concussion patients before they engage in vigorous activities such as athletics. Management of mild concussions should be done immediately to avoid catastrophic results.

Patrick Larimore

Patrick Larimore’s decision to quit playing football resulted from the problems he was beginning to face following a series of concussions (Hoffarth par.2). During his time as a football player, he had suffered six concussions. Larimore had already started to experience harsh symptoms that were an indication of brain injuries such as irritability and general lack of emotional control. In ordinary cases, even two consecutive concussions are enough to cause death. Given the very intense and ferocious hits that Larimore had been receiving, his decision was both prudent and timely. He was justified to quit because there was a great risk of him suffering a permanent, irreversible brain injury or even death if he had another concussion (Hoffarth par.4). Athletes who find themselves in a position where they suffer repeated concussions should quit or stay away for some seasons. Taking a break from athletics is imperative for such players because the break offers them ample time to recover fully before exposing themselves to other hits.

Conclusion

Constant head hitting may seem like a common thing during practice and matches for athletes, but it can have very far-reaching effects. Many players have succumbed, developed permanent brain injury, or have retired early due to repetitive concussions. Athletic trainers and team doctors should always ensure that proper tests are carried out. Necessary safety measures should be observed in the course of the sport. Injured players should also be made to rest to allow them enough recovery time.

Works Cited

Hoffarth, Tom. UCLA’s Larimore on ESPN’s ‘E:60’: ‘Finally, it was clear I couldn’t go on smashing my head into things. Nothing good was going to come out of that for me, 2012. Web.

Preston Plevretes Story. Ex. Prod. Brady Rowe. Bendigo, Vic.: Video Education Australasia. 2015. DVD.

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Athletic Training and Its Effects on the Lives

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