Regular Soccer Players Should Stop Heading the Ball

If heading the soccer ball is the strategy you use in the game, you may want to rethink your strategy.

A recent study suggests that  repeated heading of a soccer ball increases the risk for brain injury similar to those seen in patients who experienced a concussion.

Heading the soccer ball once or twice a year will not make an impact on the brain.  The research showed that excessive heading – over 1,300 times a year – seems to be associated with impairment of memory, attention, and planning, as well as visual and spatial reasoning.

The study, conducted by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Montefiore Medical Center, used an advanced imaging technique on 39 amateur soccer players.  The participants of the study, all in their 30s, had all played the sport since childhood.

The researchers asked the players how often they had headed a ball over the course of a year and then compared their brain images. Participants who had frequent headers showed brain injury similar to that seen in patients with concussions.

A concussion is a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)that often results after a blow to the head. Some signs and symptoms include:

• confusion, problems with routine tasks
• sensitivity to light and noise
• severe headaches
• mood swings; irritability
• loss of balance
• nausea/vomiting

A child who shows any of these signs or symptoms after a head injury should not continue to play or practice the sport until all symptoms are gone and the child has been medically cleared to rejoin the team.

If your child has sustained a traumatic brain injury or other head injury while playing school sports in Missouri or Kansas, you may have a negligence case. A Missouri personal injury lawyer can help. To learn more, contact the Kansas City brain injury attorneys  to set up your free consultation or download our free resource guide 10 Essential Steps You Must Take to Protect Your Injury Claim.