Sports injuries have been present for many years but it wasn’t until about twenty years ago that the sports world realized that these injuries can be prevented. Sports related injuries are categorized by severity, into two division;acute injuries, and overuse injuries, according to Stop Sports Injuries. Acute injuries can include wrist sprains, ankle fractures, or a muscle strains. Overuse injuries are where there is a micro-trauma to tendons, bones, or joints. Overuse injuries usually occur because of physical stress on the body and can lead to surgery depending on how major the injury is. The three most common types of injuries that happen to athletes are ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) tears, rotator cuff tears, and concussions. Examining
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In 2013, at football training camp at Carnegie Mellon University, a twenty-two-year-old mechanical engineering graduate student witnessed several of his old teammates suffer concussions. Seeing these events happen to his own friends inspired him to try to start a company. The name of the company is HeadSmart Labs, in which they aim to develop new tests for helmets used in contact sports, guidelines on how they should be worn, and benchmarks for when they should be replaced (Shein). Thomas Healy, the graduate student, first analyzed how often the players regularly inflated their helmets and found that not too many players even bothered to do so, despite players knowing their helmets weren’t fitting properly, and not providing the right amount of shock absorption. After speaking with the coach about regularly inflating the helmets, during a four-week period, none of the players suffered a concussion, which showed often inflating the helmets really worked (Shein). Protective gear for the ACL is very similar and has gone through many studies and test to help create the best braces for preventing the injury. One of the major companies for knee braces is DonJoy, which creates some of the top braces for ACL injuries and other injuries in the lower extremities. These braces are so technologically advanced that most NFL players that have an ACL tear will end up getting one of these braces. One downside to these braces is the cost. Specialized braces tend to be expensive. Rotator cuff protective gear does not exist unless you want to consider resistance bands used for stretching and strengthening as gear to help prevent a tear from
In 2013, at football training camp at Carnegie Mellon University, a twenty-two-year-old mechanical engineering graduate student witnessed several of his old teammates suffer concussions. Seeing these events happen to his own friends inspired him to try to start a company. The name of the company is HeadSmart Labs, in which they aim to develop new tests for helmets used in contact sports, guidelines on how they should be worn, and benchmarks for when they should be replaced (Shein). Thomas Healy, the graduate student, first analyzed how often the players regularly inflated their helmets and found that not too many players even bothered to do so, despite players knowing their helmets weren’t fitting properly, and not providing the right amount of shock absorption. After speaking with the coach about regularly inflating the helmets, during a four-week period, none of the players suffered a concussion, which showed often inflating the helmets really worked (Shein). Protective gear for the ACL is very similar and has gone through many studies and test to help create the best braces for preventing the injury. One of the major companies for knee braces is DonJoy, which creates some of the top braces for ACL injuries and other injuries in the lower extremities. These braces are so technologically advanced that most NFL players that have an ACL tear will end up getting one of these braces. One downside to these braces is the cost. Specialized braces tend to be expensive. Rotator cuff protective gear does not exist unless you want to consider resistance bands used for stretching and strengthening as gear to help prevent a tear from