Concussion and Rugby

March 10, 2022, Kitchener, Ontario

Posted by: Robert Deutschmann, Personal Injury Lawyer

Rugby is a sport of high contact and high impact. Concussion is a common injury in the game. Like in American Football, the professional rugby leagues are investigating ways to keep players safe at all levels of play.

A new study is using high-tech gum shields/mouth guards to monitor real-time head impacts for players. These mouth guards are providing the data which will be used to help protect players.
There are a couple of studies being undertaken by World Rugy, and some of the elite clubs using two separate models of mouthguards to collect data from real players during real games.

What data were collected?

The data being collected is invaluable for concussion tracking. The mouthguards are equipped with microchips and sensors that ensure the guards are only active while in the players’ mouths. They are also transmitting data in real-time to the sidelines so coaches and trainers are aware of exactly what the conditions are.

There are tri-axial gyroscopes, accelerometers, and magnetometers to measure the acceleration, direction and rotation of the impact forces.

What do the data show?

The data show that in the average match a rugby player suffers about the same brain impact as a boxer does in 3 minutes. The big difference is that boxers have long breaks between bouts whereas rugby players are on the pitch weekly.
Since the trainers and medical staff are monitoring action live on the sideline they can assess players when a blow is flagged by the sensors as exceeding safe limits. This allows players to be removed from play earlier and keeps them safer.

The long-running data on each player also allows trainers to measure the cumulative impacts of blows to the head allowing player schedules to be adjusted as required to keep them safe.

The data collection has allowed training schedules to be modified to allow a net reduction of blows for players. This also leads to performance gains for the fresher athletes.

You can read more about the Protecht mouthguards and the research on the Protecht website.

If you or a loved one have suffered a concussion due to the negligence of someone else you should contact one of our experienced personal injury lawyers today. Let us help you secure your future.

About Deutschmann Law

Deutschmann Law serves South-Western Ontario with offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Woodstock, Brantford, Stratford and Ayr. The law practice of Robert Deutschmann focuses almost exclusively in personal injury and disability insurance matters. For more information, please visit www.deutschmannlaw.com or call us at 1-519-742-7774.

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