Guest Commentary by Local Physician

Our Goal for Park Ridge Football – Family and Physician Friendly

As a physician I see many kinds of injuries in my office, some related to competitive sports participation but many more related to recreational sports, leisure activities, and regular daily activities. I sometimes think about if we could completely control the environment we live in; then no injuries would ever happen. However, we know that is not possible. For example, weather conditions are one of these things we can’t control. We hear every day in the winter the unfortunate stories on how people slip on the ice and break a hip, elbow or wrist. We may have attempted to control some factors by putting some salt down on the pavement and shoveling the snow but that did not seem to help. We may have been in a rush to get to work the next morning or maybe we are not wearing the correct shoes so this may have influenced our fall. The bottom line is there are many factors that can lead to an injury, some we can’t control and others we can. Some may say the best thing to do would be to stay inside our house on an icy, cold, snowy day. However, then we may not be productive at our job, we may miss our daughter’s dance recital, or we could miss a great Bears win (maybe) at Soldier Field. Most of us are willing to accept these uncontrollable risks to make our lives healthier, more enjoyable, and more successful.

This is also true when it comes to choosing our sporting and leisure activities as adults but even more importantly when choosing sporting activities for our children. There have been recent concerns about the long term effects of concussions in contact sports which include football, wrestling, soccer, lacrosse, basketball and many others. Obviously, the sport of football has been targeted by the media. Thank goodness this has been done because it has created a national awareness in this area. Park Ridge Youth Football (PRFB) has responded to these concerns. They have developed a protocol for concussion evaluation, diagnosis and treatment. They have a relationship with ATI physical therapy which is available to all participants of PRFB in this area as well as evaluation of other sports injuries. PRFB has also has developed the following rule, “Contact is prohibited during two-thirds of practice time, and drills than involved full speed head-on blocking and tackling were eliminated”. I am not trying to negate the potential for concussion or other injury playing a contact sport, but PRFB has made strides to make your child as safe as possible in his participation in the sport of football. Also, there are many physicians in the area that are very equipped to evaluate and treat concussions as well as other sports injuries that may occur.

Football is a great sport, but it is our job as parents, coaches and medical personnel to keep this game safe from potential harm to our children. Ultimately it is your decision as parents to allow your child to participate in PRFB, however, just be assured that Park Ridge Football is doing everything it can to assure the safety of your child. Even though the risk of injury exists in every sport, the valuable lessons a child can learn from participation in any team sport are invaluable. In addition, your child can get a great appreciation for the importance of physical activity and that positive influence will hopefully keep him exercising throughout his life. The main concern right now is concussions and the general consensus from the medical world is that no child returns to any contact sport without being symptom free during full activity. Even the medical field has come a long way on the evaluation and management of concussions, which is a good thing for every participant in a contact sport. Now let’s go, hike that ball already!

Respectfully,
Michael J. Meyer , DO
Board Certified Family Medicine Physician
www.meyerfamilymedicine.net (for media verification purposes only 847-966-4833)

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Resurrection Medical Center
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