Advances in sports medicine. Prevention of head and neck injuries in football

Abstract

Statistics on catastrophic head and neck injuries in football provide a more realistic indication of the incidence of serious injuries occurring on the football field than do the fatality figures. These statistics, however, provide no clues for preventing such injuries. Moreover, research using head models, anesthetized animals, cadaveric heads, and estimates of brain tolerance to impact based on studies of actual injuries to the heads of humans has produced conflicting data with respect to the goal of improving the safety record of the sport. To reconcile the data and to provide some solutions to the problem of serious injuries on the playing field, we reviewed the data collected in the laboratory and correlated it with the information obtained from telemetry studies. As a result of combining these two data sources, we concluded that injuries on the playing field occur at either end of the spectrum of offered resistance: when too much resistance is offered and when little or no resistance is offered. We demonstrated that, by avoiding either of these extremes, serious injuries to the head and neck can be reduced considerably. Finally, we discussed the importance of preprogrammed responses by the experienced, well-conditioned athlete. These allow the athlete to avoid either extreme of resistance and, thereby, protect him from injury. Clearly, the data obtained from laboratory and telemetry studies will prove instrumental in effecting changes in the sport of football. As a result of these studies, we can hope for alterations in the design of the helmet, enlightened coaching techniques, and rule revisions--all of which will serve to make football a safe sport.