BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Over the years, much of the research done on concussions in high school athletes has focused on male football players. High school football players do have the highest concussion rate, but the second-highest rate is seen in a group of athletes you might not consider - female soccer players. Additionally, the group of athletes most likely to be concussed *in practice* is cheerleaders.
In this story we spoke with athletes and experts to take a closer look at concussions in high school female athletes and answers questions for parents and players.
Research published in the journal Pediatrics and reported on by Forbes helps highlight concussions in young female athletes.
Why might high school girl athletes be more likely to suffer concussions than their male counterparts?
- Girls tend to have less developed neck muscles than boys the same age
- Girls' brains are different than boys
- Girls' hormones may make them more predisposed to being concussed
Do concussions look different in girls and boys?
There are some differences experts have noticed as they treat girls and boys for concussions.
"The symptoms of headaches are more frequent and more prolonged," explained Fisher. "I think mental cognition, more moodiness, dizziness. Those symptoms tend to last longer and are more prevalent for females."
"Overall between women and men frequently you'll see a little bit of an increased recovery time in females and possibly an increase in severity but not necessarily," explained Earl.
Why are girls soccer players prone to concussions?
Soccer can be very physical, and many of the athletes are extremely competitive.
"For soccer - it's pretty much a collision sport, and they have no padding," explained Josette Fisher, from Excelsior Orthopaedics.
"We see a lot of head-to-head collisions, echoed Caleb Earl from Excelsior. "Sometimes we'll see a goalkeeper coming out with a punch in an attempt to punch the ball, missing a ball, hitting a head."
The risk of concussion and injury in sports is the reason the Williamsville School District partners with Excelsior Orthopaedics. Athletic trainers are present at games and practices to treat injuries and help guide return-to-play protocols for student athletes.
What precautions are taken by districts when it comes to concussions?
We spoke with athletes in both the Williamsville and Hamburg School Districts.
Both districts baseline test their athletes ahead of the season so they have a frame of reference should anything happen. They also both have athletic trainers easily accessible to their student athletes. Any student athlete who is injured needs to follow return-to-play guidelines as well.
"Every player is baseline tested. It's basically just a frame of reference for if you were to get injured."
"We drill and drill to make sure no injuries happen and everybody is safe. Especially from concussions."
Coaches are also trained specifically in concussion recognition and protocol.
"It's knowledge for us coaches to know how to spot one and how to prevent one."
Even with the increased awareness of concussions in female athletes, experts say they'd like to see more targeted research done in the future.
"Up until this point - all the the research has been on male athletes. The focus on sport over the last 50 years has been on male sports," explained Earl. "As that focus gets more evenly distributed to men's and women's sports you realize they're not exactly the same. They're two different groups of people therefore we need research on two different groups of people."
To learn more about concussions, how they're treated, and how Excelsior works with athletes, you can check out this link.
