# Concussion Prevention

## [January Winter Sports Awareness and How to stay safe](/content/january-winter-sports-awareness-and-how-to-stay-safe/index.html)

January is National Winter Sports TBI Awareness Month, and we are hoping all our athletes remain safe in their sport. A press release by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, “January is National Winter Sports TBI Awareness Month,” highlights an important seasonal reality; winter sports come with the risk of TBI, including concussions.

## [Avoid Traumatic Brain Injury While Playing Winter Sports](/content/avoid-traumatic-brain-injury-while-playing-winter-sports/index.html)

Popular winter sports like skiing, snowboarding, sledding, ice hockey, snowmobiling and more can put athletes at risk for concussions. The article, “Avoid Traumatic Brain Injury While Playing Winter Sports,” by Brain & Life dives deeper into these injuries to the head and the effects on athletes. The article explains these injuries happen when the brain.

## [Repeated Concussions in Contact Sports: Why Early Detection Matters This Winter](/content/repeated-concussions-in-contact-sports-why-early-detection-matters-this-winter/index.html)

A recent review “The Long-Term Effects of Repeated Concussions in Contact Sports,” by Riaz Ahmed (Premier Journal of Science, 2025), found that repeated concussions can have lasting effects on memory, attention, and emotional health. The review highlights that multiple injuries increase the risk of cognitive decline and even neurodegenerative disease over time.

## [Repeated Head Impacts and Brain Function: Staying Safe for 2026 Sports Seasons](/content/repeated-head-impacts-and-brain-function-staying-safe-for-2026-sports-seasons/index.html)

A recent article “What Happens When a University Football Player Takes Repeated Head Impacts?” by Michelle Werdann, University of Nevada highlights a growing concern for athletes: the effect of repeated head impacts on brain function, even when no concussion is diagnosed. The study referred to in this article shows that subtle changes in eye movement.

## [Holiday Slopes, Winter Falls, and Brain Safety](/content/holiday-slopes-winter-falls-and-brain-safety/index.html)

With winter and the holidays approaching, many athletes and families are heading to the mountains for skiing and snowboarding. These sports bring excitement, fresh air, and an exhilarating “high-risk, high-reward” feeling. They also come with a risk of head injuries. A major scientific review article, “An Evidence Based Review: Efficacy of Safety Helmets in Reduction.

## [The First Quantitative Report of Head Impacts is Published](/content/the-first-quantitative-report-of-head-impacts-is-published/index.html)

Water polo is fast, physical, and unforgiving. Between diving for position, rapid direction changes, and high-velocity passes, players experience a lot of contact, some of it hard-hitting. A study published in PLOS ONE, entitled, “Head impacts sustained by male collegiate water polo athletes,” provides the first quantitative data on head impact exposure among male collegiate water.

## [Concussion Prevention for Female Athletes](/content/concussion-prevention-for-female-athletes/index.html)

A new paper in the British Journal of Sports Medicine entitled “Prevention strategies and modifiable risk factors for concussion: a systematic review and meta-analysis for the Female, woman and girl Athlete Injury prevention (FAIR) consensus” takes a broad look at how sport-related concussions (SRC) in female athletes, a population that has often been overlooked in concussion research, can.

## [NFL’s Next Step in Concussion Care: Beyond Equipment and Rules](/content/nfls-next-step-in-concussion-care-beyond-equipment-and-rules/index.html)

On September 3rd, 2025, an NFL webinar, “From Sunday Primetime to Friday Night Lights: Player Health and Safety at Every Level, “ brought together healthcare leaders and a football coach to talk about how the game is changing. Dr. Allen Sills, Chief Medical Officer of the NFL, was joined by Dr. Jay Clugston of the University.

## [A surprising cause of head injury: Slips and falls and how to prevent them this winter season](/content/a-surprising-cause-of-head-injury-slips-and-falls-and-how-to-prevent-them-this-winter-season/index.html)

Beneath the picturesque layer of snow that blankets much of the world during winter lies an often-dangerous reality: A significant risk of slips and falls. This is particularly true for those over 65 according to a 2018 CDC study that showed falls to be the leading cause of death among this group. But it is.