Concussion injuries are really not the problem. The real problem is in effectively managing it. In my opinion, this holds especially true for soccer athletes at the high school/club level.
Soccer is one of the only sports to require a player to apply a force to a ball with their head. This has inspired a great amount of research within the scientific community to determine if there are any long-term effects that occur to the brain specifically due to heading a soccer ball, such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy seen in boxers and football players.
Concussions are the hot topic across all of sports. For the past 20 years, the concept of not participating in sports while symptomatic has been known. The big question now is how long should one wait after symptoms stop before returning to the field?
The value of having a mouth guard in preventing dental injuries has been well documented for years but does it help prevent concussions? There are three theories on how a mouth guard will prevent or reduce the chance of a concussion
