Most Common Injuries that Occur in Cheerleading Exam Practice

Content type

User Generated

Subject

Health & Medical

Type

Exam Practice

Uploaded By

WvzJva123

Pages

Logan Pasker

Injury Assignment

I will continue to examine the sport of cheerleading and the most common injuries that occur.

1. Concussions

a. The first injury is concussions. This is a fairly common injury sustained by fliers on the

cheerleading squad. This injury is a traumatic brain injury often caused by a blow to the

head causing the brain to move around inside the skull. Rapid deceleration of the head

causes the brain to slam into the skull thus creating the trauma. Rather than causing

structural damage, concussions result in neurological damage and general cognitive

impairment.

b. Some common signs and symptoms of a concussion are nausea, vomiting, dizziness,

brief loss of memory either before or after the traumatic event, ringing in the ears,

difficulty sleeping, difficulty staying awake, elevated levels of depression, and sensitivity

to bright lights. These signs will rarely be physical and mostly just neural. With that

being said, it is important to listen to how the athlete is feeling to determine if they

have a concussion.

c. Causes of concussions in cheerleading are often when stunts are performed incorrectly.

Most often fliers, those who are at the top of stunts and thrown in the air, are not

caught correctly. Their heads might make contact with the ground or perhaps another

person’s limb will accelerate into the athlete’s head. Another common way of receiving

a concussion is getting kicked in the head during pyramid stunts or aerial stunts.

d. With concussions, refraining from physical activity is the best solution to returning to

play. Additionally, avoiding focusing and mentally demanding tasks is essential. This

may include not going to school. Avoiding bright lights and screens will help the healing

process. Total time until return to play will depend on how the athlete feels but may

usually be anywhere from 7-10 days.

e. There is not much to prevent concussions because as it was stated before they result

from the brain hitting the skull. Possible preventative exercise could be neck and upper

back work to prevent a whiplash effect. If we think about the head/neck structure like a

tree, with the brain as the fruit, the neck as the trunk, and the shoulders and traps as

the roots, we can try to keep the fruit in the tree by strengthening the trunk and roots.

Just like a tree, a strong neck and shoulders will be more resistant to injury than a weak

neck and shoulders.

f. Immediately upon suspecting a concussion, the athlete should be removed from

competition or practice regardless of what the athlete says. It is better to be safe than

sorry. If there is a loss of consciousness, a cervical spine injury should be suspected.

Later at an appropriate time, a concussion test such as the IMPACT will need to be re-

administered to clearly decide if the athlete has sustained a concussion.

2. Superior Labral Tear From anterior to Posterior (SLAP Tear)

a. A SLAP tear is damage to the uppermost labrum. This is the same area where the biceps

tendon attaches to the labrum. As the name states, this labrum tear occurs both

anterior and posterior to this attachment point.

c. Athletes may feel a pop or grinding in their shoulder at the instance of injury. Other

symptoms of injury include pain with shoulder movement, pain while lifting objects

overhead, decreased range of motion, and a feeling that their shoulder is going to pop

out of place.

d. Possible causes for this injury in cheerleading would be poor catching technique during

stunts. When an athlete catches a flier incorrectly, they will only use their arms to slow

down the flier rather than using their whole body to decelerate the flier. While using

the improper catching technique, the athlete will receive a sudden violent downward

movement at the shoulder joint. This violent force will cause the tear in the labrum.

e. Initial treatment of the injury will be applying ice and anti-inflammatory medication to

reduce pain and swelling. If the injury is not severe, physical therapy can be applied to

strengthening the shoulder area. If the injury is severe, surgery may be required at

which point the surgeon will repair the labrum either by removing the torn part of the

labrum or by reattaching the torn part with stitches. After surgery, a period of wearing

a sling will be necessary for up to 4 weeks. Afterwards, physical therapy will be applied

to regain range of motion and function of the shoulder.

f. Prevention of this injury is twofold. The first way is to learn proper catching technique.

This means using your entire body, including your legs, to absorb the force of a falling

flier. This will prevent the majority of SLAP tears. The second way is through proper

strength training. This involves strengthening the upper back and shoulder area will lots

of rowing or pulling exercises. A good rule of thumb is a 2:1 ratio of pull to push

exercises.

g. At the instances of injury, the athlete should be taken out of competition/practice and

the injury assessed to determine severity. If indeed it is a SLAP tear, the athlete will be

taken out of activity for the remainder of the event. The first priority is to not further

aggravate the injury so we would seek to immobilize the injury through a sling and take

pressure of the shoulder area. Next, if available ice and anti-inflammatories should be

Unformatted Attachment Preview

Logan Pasker Injury Assignment I will continue to examine the sport of cheerleading and the most common injuries that occur. 1. Concussions a. The first injury is concussions. This is a fairly common injury sustained by fliers on the cheerleading squad. This injury is a traumatic brain injury often caused by a blow to the head causing the brain to move around inside the skull. Rapid deceleration of the head causes the brain to slam into the skull thus creating the trauma. Rather than causing structural damage, concussions result in neurological damage and general cognitive impairment. b. Some common signs and symptoms of a concussion are nausea, vomiting, dizziness, brief loss of memory either before or after the traumatic event, ringing in the ears, difficulty sleeping, difficulty staying awake, elevated levels of depression, and sensitivity to bright lights. These signs will rarely be ...
Purchase document to see full attachment

Tags: Common injuries Cheer leading injuries Concussion type injury SLAP tear ACL Tear