Football Injuries By: Tanner Vandiford

Statistics 1 ● Due to its violent nature, football is the leading cause of school sports injuries ● Sports cause nearly 900 spinal-cord injuries each year in the United States ● In 2004, hospitals treated more than 1.6 million people ages 18 and under for sports injuries ● In 2007 more than 920,000 athletes under the age of 18 were treated in emergency rooms, doctor's offices, and clinics for football-related injuires

Statistics 2 ● Due to the large numbers of football injuries a test was conducted to determine the baseline injury rate for children ages 7 to 13 participating in community organized sports such as football ● The results of injury rates calculated per 100 athlete exposures during total events for football was 1.5 ● The frequency of injury per team per season for football was 14 for total events ● In football 14% of injuries were considered serious, contact was the most frequent method

Injuries 1 ● Common injuries in football players consist of traumatic injuries, overuse injuries, concussions, and heat injuries ● Traumatic injuries usually consist of knee injuries, ankle sprains, and injuries to the acromioclavicular joint or shoulder ● Torn ligaments such as the ACL which is a knee ligament, can require surgery, followed by a six to eight month recovery and rehabilitation period

Injuries 2 ● For strains and sprains rest the swollen area for 48 hours, ice it off and on, compress it with an elastic bandage, and elevate it above the heart to bring down swelling ● Overuse injuries consist of low-back pain, or back pain in general ● Muscle pain occurs when weak back and abdominal muscles can't absorb the force of twisting, causing a muscle tear, or strain

Injuries 3 ● Overuse injuries can also lead to over training syndrome, when a body trains beyond ability to recover

Safety 1 ● Although football is dangerous injuries can be prevented by wearing the right equipment, and playing by the rules ● All football helmets should have a hard plastic outer shell and a thick layer of padding ● Football shoulder pads should have a hard plastic shell with thick padding ● If you need to wear glasses on the field, be sure they're made pof shatterproof glass or plastic

Safety 2