Nearly a third of concussions in pro football involve impacts to the facemask Linemen are most at risk for facemask-related concussions Better facemask designs could improve safety MONDAY, Sept. 16, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Newfangled designs intended to make football helmets more protective have overlooked one key component, a new study suggests. Nearly a third of in pro football involve impacts to the facemask, a part of the helmet that has remained mostly unchanged during the past decade, researchers say.
Facemask enhancements could help protect players and minimize injury risk, the study concluded. These findings “suggest that facemask redesign should be the focus of future innovation that can continue to improve the safety of football players at all skill levels,” said lead researcher , scientific director of the Center for Injury Research and Prevention and co-director of the Minds Matter Concussion Program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. For the study, researchers used mouthpieces fitted with motion sensors to track head impacts that NFL players sustained during games.
Nearly 100 players wore the mouthpieces during NFL seasons running from 2019 through 2022, and data was captured on more than 5,100 blows to the head that occurred during play. Facemask impacts represented nearly 60% of the most severe head blows during play. Impacts to the facemask were most common among linemen (66%), followed by hybrid players (56%) and speed players (46%).
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