High School Football

They say in Illinois, that between the State of Illinois and the City of St. Louis, at least one high school football player per year becomes a quadriplegic from a broken neck. And, this story may be mostly true rather than just an urban legend.

Clearly neck injury has been a problem in the past.

“The total number of head and neck injuries from 1971 to 1975[19],[20] was calculated and retrospectively compared with the data from 1959 to 1963 compiled by Schneider.[17] The number of intracranial hemorrhages and deaths had decreased by 66% and 42%, respectively. This suggested that the new helmet standards had been effective in minimizing serious head injuries. However, the number of cervical spine fractures, subluxations, and dislocations had increased by 204%, and the number of athletes with cervical quadriplegia had increased by 116%.” - (Jonathan F. Heck, Kenneth S. Clarke, Thomas R. Peterson, Joseph S. Torg, and Michael P. Weis: National Athletic Trainers' Association Position Statement: Head-Down Contact and Spearing in Tackle Football. J Athl Train. 2004 March; 39 (1): 101–111)

Cervical spine injuries continue today. Quadriplegia is only the tip of the iceberg as herniated disks, radiculopathies and other neck-related problems occur because of high school football.

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Written for the Cervical Spine Foundation (CervicalSpineFoundation.org) October 18, 2004.

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