page_title: Health issues in American football
section_title: Prevention
hierarchical_section_title: Health issues in American football / Prevention
caption_attribution_description: English: Leather football helmet believed to have been worn by Gerald Ford while playing for the University of Michigan, 1932-1934. The helmet features the Michigan Wolverines logo. The front is embossed, “MOS / Spaulding,” with “Pat'D No 1.864.104” on back.
context_page_description: Health issues in American football comprise a large number of health risks associated with participating in the sport. Injuries are relatively common in American football, due to its nature as a full-contact game. Injuries occur during both practice and games. Several factors can affect the frequency of injuries: epidemiological studies have shown older players can be at a greater risk, while equipment and experienced coaches can reduce the risk of injury. Common injuries include strains, sprains, fractures, dislocations, and concussions. Concussions have become a concern, as they increase the risk of mental illnesses like dementia and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. In individual leagues like the National Football League and National Collegiate Athletic Association, a public injury report is published containing all injured players on a team, their injury and the game-day status of each player.
  Catastrophic injuries—defined as serious injury to the spine, spinal cord, or brain—and fatalities are uncommon in football; both have become less common since the 1970s, although a small number of them still occur each year.
context_section_description: Injuries have always been a part of football, and various methods have been used historically and in modern times to prevent or minimize them. One method that has been used to prevent injuries is changing the rules of the sport. An early example of this was the elimination of mass formations like the flying wedge in the early 1900s, due to the large number of severe injuries the formations caused. Smaller wedges consisting of three, four, or five players were frequently used on kickoff returns before wedges were limited to two or fewer players in 2009 by the NFL; a similar rule was adopted by the NCAA a year later. The sharp decrease in the number of catastrophic cervical spine injuries since the mid-1970s has been partially credited to rule changes that modified tackling and blocking techniques. With the increasing awareness of the long-term effects of concussions, the NFL has passed rules prohibiting the targeting of "defenseless" players over-the-shoulder, requiring plays to be blown dead when the runner loses his helmet, and placing more stringent limits to the ability of players who have sustained a concussion to return to play.
  Similarly, modern equipment was developed to reduce injuries. The football helmet, although a scapegoat for concussions, serves as effective protection against more dangerous injuries like skull fractures. The modern helmet traces its roots back to the leather helmets used by football players in the early 1900s to protect themselves from head injuries. Helmets later evolved to be made of hard plastic, and a facemask was added to protect players from sustaining facial injuries. Many players also wear mouthguards to prevent injuries to their teeth and tongues; at some levels, such as the NCAA, the use of a mouthguard is mandatory. Football players wear a number of pads to protect themselves – shoulder pads are the most important pads, protecting the shoulder and sternum, but thigh pads, hip pads, tail pads, and knee pads are also used. Many quarterbacks wear flak jackets to protect their ribcage. Cleats come in a number of lengths, with players choosing which cleat to use based on the playing field – players prefer a shorter cleat when playing on artificial turf to prevent their feet from digging into the ground and risking injury, while longer cleats are generally used on fields that are wet or slippery to provide better traction. Athletic cups are not typically used at the professional level because athletic cups tend to make it harder to move and there is an unwritten code among players not to target the groin area. Additionally, studies have shown that proper conditioning techniques, fitness routines and exercise routines, as well as high-quality equipment and coaching, can reduce the risk of injury among players.
caption: Leather helmets, the predecessor of modern football helmets, were designed to protect players from head injuries.
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