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A couple of weeks back, I wrote about some ideas for reducing head injuries in football:

Ten Ideas Concerning NFL Concussions that Should be Looked At, Mike Bryant | July 03, 2012 9:32 AM

I received some very interesting feedback that took me to two websites that are really worth spending time with. The first website came from a comment to the article. Mahercor Laboratories, LLC has an extensive site that covers the available mouth guards that can be used to prevent head injury:

Since its development, no NFL Player wearing any products
in our product line has ever succumbed to a concussion from a blow to the jaw!

They include extensive research and links for learning more about potential injuries and most importantly prevention.

The second site came from an email I got from former NFL player Dave Pear. He has another great resource at his website. The website is packed with all sorts of resources from not only his own experience, but from research from all over the world.

The two sites show us two major eliminators in dealing with sports concussions. One looks to invocation to protect future athletes and the other reminds us of what a poor job we have done to this point in that protection. In the big picture, hopefully they will each contribute to the prevention of injury and the proper help and protection for those who weren't taken care of.

5 Comments

  1. Gravatar for Mark Picot
    Mark Picot

    To clarify, Mahercor labs makes mouth guards that address Temporal Mandibular Joint Dysfunction symptoms and micro-trauma in athletes. Dr, Robert Cantu has made it clear, no research has been done to prove common mouth guards effect cerebral concussion. These adaptive Tmd appliances have never been properly investigated other than the preliminary peer reviewed data below. Tmd symptoms of nausea, headache, the sensation of seeing stars are inherent in football, the chin strap imposes these same negative forces on the Tm joint in the military. Balancing and stabilizing the "Bite" to the individual's physiological needs has shown great promise in preliminary data in the NFL and soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Data, Peer reviewed by Dr. Jeffery Shaefer, a Cranial Facial Specialist/TMD of Harvard MGH has been accepted by U.S. Army research and supported by a funding grant. This is the first official funding of this innovation already in use in the NFL for over two decades. Further funding of this technology is imperative. An initiative to set mouth guard fitting standards related to the jaw/cervical spine in sports is underway. This technology is available today to the general public, the subjects in the linked study are from the Duxbury Massachusetts four time state champion team. While some individuals will benefit from the use of boil and bite or common custom made guards, those candidates with Tmd may require an higher level of care if "dings" continue. Only a pre season evaluation from your local Tmd specialist or Mahercor Certified dentist, will determine a proper course of action. While not all concussion like symptoms are a result of a blow to the jaw, many are, these new standards are just one more layer in helping reduce the overall risk of injury.

    Study Peer reviewed by Dr.Shaefer

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19614931

    U.S. Army funding recommended by Dr.Shaefer

    http://www.dodsbir.net/sitis/archives_display_topic.asp?Bookmark=38620

  2. Gravatar for holt hackney
    holt hackney

    Thanks for the info.

    Editor

    Concussion Policy and the Law

  3. Mike Bryant

    Thank you post for the posts and for stopping by to read our blog.

  4. Mike Bryant

    Thanks for stopping by to read it and comment.

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