Being a female athlete and particularly one who has had her share of concussions, I have always wondered why it is that females are at a higher risk to concussions than males are. However many people don’t actually know this fact because when someone thinks of concussions they automatically tune in on football and male athletes. So I have decided to write my first official blog on why females are at a higher risk of getting a concussion than males are.
Soccer is one of the most common sports to get a concussion in, especially for females. Girls who play soccer suffer from concussions sixty eight percent more than boys who play soccer. The same applies to basketball. On MomsTeam it states that in basketball girls suffer three times more concussion than guys. But why is this the unfortunate truth?
In studies, scientists tend to talk about soccer, basketball and baseball or softball more than other sports because these are the three sports in which girls and guys have a similar way of playing them. There are two ways you can look in to this case. One is the anatomy side of things, and the other is the statistical side of things.
A females head is smaller compared to a males therefore causing girls to be more prone to concussions than guys. Studies say that females have twenty six percent less total mass in their head and neck than males do. According to CBS it states that females necks are less developed than males meaning they aren’t as strong as males which again causes them to be more prone, when in impact, to concussions than males would be.
However, although a male and female’s head and neck are structured differently this still may not be the reasoning behind females being more susceptible to concussions than males. It is known that males tend to not report things as much as females do, so could this be the reason? Statistics say that females have a higher rate of recorded concussions in specific sports than males but is this simply because there are more females than males who report their head injuries. Unfortunately we as a society may never know the truth behind this. What we can do though is continue to take serious action when presented with a head injury.
Concussions continue to play a huge part in sports and particularly high school sports. As a prior high school athlete I was always required to complete a concussion course before the beginning of each school year so I could be aware of symptoms and what to look out for in case of an injury. Even if this fact is true, that females are more prone to head injuries than males, it doesn’t mean males don’t get them. It also doesn’t mean just athletes get them. Everyone needs to be aware of concussions and what the symptoms may be because this is not an injury to take lightly.
I was really interested once I saw this title because I never would have guessed that females would be more prone to concussions than guys. As you said, I always relate concussions to football and sports like that, but now I can see how soccer would come into play! I have had multiple friends that 1. have had concussions and 2. have had symptoms but never gotten themselves treated. I think that this is so important to do because you are putting yourself at risk and if you had symptoms which actually turned int a concussion, you would be able to look out for later ones. Great post!!
As a former female soccer player, I completely understand the worry of concussions. However, I had no idea that females were more susceptible to concussions. Luckily, I never had to deal with one, but I knew quite a number of people who did. Like you, my team was required to do the preliminary tests as well! Though I’m not sure if this made us more cautious, but rather aware. Everyone, both boys and girls, are going to continue to play the game hard even if that means injury, unfortunately. The best solution seems to be to make sure the athletes and trainers/coaches are aware of the symptoms and treatment if they happen to be one of the unlucky ones.