Nhl - Washington Capitals Vs. the Pittsburg Penguins - 2011

Is it Worth it?

January 1st 2011, the Washington Capitals are playing against the Pittsburg Penguins in the National Hockey League's (NHL) biggest regular season event, the Winter Classic. NHL superstar and the face of the league Sydney Crosby shoots the puck into the Capitals defensive zone and proceeds to chase after it. After retrieving the puck he loses it and the play starts going the other way. Crosby turns his head and out of nowhere David Steckal of the Washington Capitals delivers a punishing blow to the head of Sydney Crosby. Sydney Crosby fell to the ice and received immediate medical attention. The first thing in every NHL fans mind was, "oh no not another concussion". Before this event the NHL had numerous players suffering from concussions in the 2010-2011 NHL season. After receiving medical attention Crosby still returned to the ice for the third and final period. NHL fans around the world started wondering, why would Crosby continue to play after he has just received a concussion. Is he trying to hurt himself more? Since the 2011 Winter Classic Crosby has returned to the NHL. Further down the season he received another concussion and has since returned from his second concussion leaving fans with another question, is playing the sport you love worth it if it is costing an athlete their health?

Through out all contact and physical sports, such as hockey and football, an enormous problem has surfaced. That problem is concussions in sports and how it is not only affecting professional athletes, but college athletes as well as youth athletes. The problem of concussions is that even though we have become more educated on the subject and detecting when a person has one, athletes still want to play the sport they love while having one.

Concussions can do serious harm to a person. A concussion is a minor traumatic brain injury (TBI) that may occur when the head hits an object, or a moving object strikes the head. An athlete who gets a concussion may not know it right away. The effects of the concussion can happen at impact but may also not take place for a couple of days. Also, once a person has one concussion, it makes it easier and more likely that they will get another concussion if they continue to get hit in the head. A person who receives a concussion will eventually recover, but the recovery process can be a long process

Concussion can result in many short-term effects. These short terms affects come in the form of physical problems as well as emotional problems. The physical affects are the most obvious and can be easily identified by the athlete who received the concussion. A few physical symptoms are: headaches, change in sleep patterns, and tinnitus. Although the person who received the concussion can easily identify these symptoms, a doctor would not be able to determine whether an athlete has a concussion or not if the athlete chooses not to reveal his symptoms. Therefore, an athlete can continue to play their sport while having a concussion if they choose to even though that athlete would be putting himself or herself in danger. Their are other symptoms that a doctor can easily identify such as a coma or vomiting.

There are also many emotional symptoms of concussion to add to