Neck Exercises May Prove To Be The Ounce Of Prevention For Football Concussions

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Posted on 24th May 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Brain Injury

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Here’s a pro-active approach to dealing with potential brain injuries in sports: Prevent them by doing neck-strengthening exercises. http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2010/05/24/concussions-fought-neck/

 Mike Gittleson, who was the University of Michigan’s football strength and conditioning coach for 30 years, believes young athletes should be doing neck-strengthening exercises to protect themselves from brain injuries. In fact, I agree with him that such exercise should be mandatory, in both high school, college and even the NFL. 

Gittleson retired from Michigan in 2008, but his work for a sports-clothing company since then has taken him to more than 250 colleges. From what he’s witnessed, few schools are promoting neck exercise. Essentially, we are training all parts of the body except the one that can help steady and protect one of our most valuable organs, the brain.

 Gittleson wants to change that. He recently addressed the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches annual Convention in Orlando, Fla., about the issue. He is asking that the group make knowledge of neck anatomy a part of  its certification and argues that neck-strengthening exercises must be taught to athletes.

Physicians who study concussions agree that stronger necks can lessen, or diffuse, the impact of blows that cause concussions. So says Dr. Robert Cantu, who is a co-director of Boston University’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy.

Cantu and Dr. Dawn Comstock are almost done with research on how neck length, diameter and strength factor into head trauma.    

 Another researcher, Ralph Cornwell, is conducting a study of 24 college-aged women and men who haven’t done neck exercises.  He will do tests where these people will be moving, as if a car, but then suddenly be stopped. Cornwell will measure how much their heads jerked by watching film of the test participants and digital mapping. 

He will then have the 24 participants do neck exercises for a period of time, and retest them to see if there is any change in their range of motion when their movement is suddenly stopped.

At least one former Michigan player, Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley, credits Gittleson’s neck training with  helping  him play college and pro football without suffering any concussions.  That’s pretty good proof in favor of neck-strengthening.

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

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Seeking Clean Slate, NFL Picks New Chairmen For Concussion Panel

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Posted on 18th March 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Brain Injury

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The National Football League, under pressure to devise a policy on concussions that will safeguard players, Tuesday shook up its committee on head injuries. It appointed two new co-chairman to head that panel.

As The New York Times put it, with its actions this week the NFL appears to be “distancing” itself from its lax and rather embarrassing past record regarding concussions. We agree. For example, the league didn’t fare very well discussing its head-injury policies during hearings before the House Judiciary Committee in October. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/sports/17concussions.html?ref=sports

Seemingly looking for a fresh start, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell named Dr. H. Hunt Batjer, chairman of neurological surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Evanston, Ill., and Dr. Richard Ellenbogen, chief of neurological surgery at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, to head the NFL head, neck and spine medical committee.

That’s the new name for what had formerly been called since its 1994 founding the mild traumatic brain injury committee.

Batjer and Ellenbogen will replace Dr. Ira Casson and Dr. David Vann, who left as co-chairmen last fall. Casson had been skewered during the hearings in Washington for his stubborn refusal to agree that there was a connection between head injuries and higher raters of dementia among retired NFL players.

And there was another piece of news Tuesday. It was disclosed that Dr. Elliott Pellman, who had remained a member of the NFL brain injury panel after stepping down as its chairman in 2007, has resigned as even a member of the group.

An NFL spokesman told The Times that the committee purview had been broadened to include the neck and spine because they areas tied into brain injury.

In a statement, Ellenbogen seemed to make it clear that he considers player head injuries a serious issue.

“I am humbled and honored to be participating in a program by the NFL that recognizes the widespread problem of concussion, which occurs in a wide spectrum of our population, from student-athletes to soldiers to professional athletes,” Ellenbogen said. “I hope through our actions, research and advocacy, we can improve the prevention and treatment of this public health issue for athletes in all sports and at all levels of play.” Batjer and Ellenbogen didn’t wait too long to take action. They are adding Dr. Mitchel Bergen, chairman of neurological surgery at U.C. San Francisco, to the committee. Berger is not a mere academic: He was a defensive end at Harvard University and even tried out for the Chicago Bears in 1974.

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
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