Once identified, this overuse injury can be treated by reducing the amount of running and impact demands, improving calf flexibility, and using a heel pad or heel cup in the soccer shoe. 4 Fractures occur more frequently in the upper extremity than in the lower extremity. Players who headed the ball more frequently during competition had higher rates of cognitive loss than players who used the technique less often. 19 Other researchers 20 have expressed concern about cognitive deficits appearing in youth soccer participants after much shorter exposure time to heading the ball. Further study is needed before a conclusion can be made about the safety of heading by young soccer players.
Eye injuries are another subset of soccer-related head injuries.
In Great Britain, the largest number of sport-related orbital blowout fractures occurred in soccer. The frequency of eye injuries in soccer has contributed to the recommendation by the American Academy of Pediatrics' Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness and the American Academy of Ophthalmology Committee on Eye Safety and Sports Ophthalmology that protective sports eye equipment using polycarbonate lenses be worn during soccer practice and competition. 24 Soccer is the second leading cause of orofacial and dental injuries in sports, preceded only by basketball. Use of protective mouth guards has been advocated to reduce the number of such injuries. The frequency and types of injuries observed in youth soccer are comparable to other sports that require running or involve contact and collisions.