The recent NFL lawsuit over concussion-related injuries brought national awareness of the dangers of playing football for not just professional athletes, but for athletes of all ages.

In Arizona, one leading expert on concussions, Javier Cardenas, MD, said young athletes are seeking proper medical treatment for brain injuries more often than in the past, but the underreporting of concussions still remains a problem in the state and across the nation. Dr. Cardenas is a neurologist and brain injury expert at Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center.  The Barrow staff is seeing an increase in the number of individuals who are no longer ignoring concussion symptoms, and are instead, reporting the injuries and then coming in for treatment.

Dr. Cardenas said that new mandatory education to help prevent concussions is making a difference in concussion-related injuries seen in the state.  The mandatory education was introduced two years ago through the Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) and the Barrow Brainbook, and more than 180,000 Arizona high school athletes have completed the education.

The Arizona Cardinals along with Barrow and the AIA have launched a special concussion prevention video game for the very young athlete as well as highlighting a new AIA regulation for football practice with the aim of preventing head injuries in young athletes.

The video game called Barrow Brain Ball teaches children how to safely avoid collisions with other players and is an interactive game geared to children between the ages of eight and twelve.  The game was funded by the Fiesta Bowl, is free, and will be available soon for download to both Android and iPhones.

A new AIA regulation limits contact during football practice.  In pre-season, no more than half of practice time can be contact practice and during the regular season, no more than one-third of practice time can be contact practice.  The AIA feels this new rule will assist in reducing concussions and other brain injuries.

Two years ago, Arizona became the first state in the nation to mandate all male and female AIA high school athletes undergo concussion education and pass a formal test before play through Barrow Brainbook.  Barrow is also providing medical resources to AIA athletic trainers, pre-injury testing, post-injury treatment to athletes, and Barrow is conducting research on injured students, as well.

The President of the Arizona Cardinals, Michael Bidwill, said “Recognizing the high priority placed on safety in all sports, the Arizona Cardinals are proud to work alongside Barrow and the AIA to help protect young athletes.”  He added that he hopes other states will adopt these important initiatives and standards that Arizona has created.