It’s undeniable that concussions have become a major area of concern in the world of sports today.

And justifiably so, particularly at the youth football level, where 99,000 players sustain at least one concussion annually. Additionally, 79,000 high school football players endure at least one concussion annually.

To break that down a bit further, one in 30 youth players and one in 14 high school players sustain a concussion each year.

Locally, the Sargent Rehabilitation Center is taking the precautionary steps in nursing those who have suffered a concussion with a new piece of equipment – the SMART Equitest Neurocom.

This will assist the rehabilitation center in its concussion management clinic, which features specialists in neurological-based disabilities that evaluate cognitive, memory, behavioral, emotional functions and physical changes.

The piece of equipment is the only one of its kind in the state and is expected to get heavy use from youth athletes recovering from sports-related concussions.

The machine is able to evaluate the extent of an injury and provide a therapy plan to address it. Reading one’s balance through the SMART Equitest Neurocom is critical so a therapist can determine a specific patient’s strengths and potential limitations.

Brain therapy exercises can also be conducted to retrain the sensory and voluntary motor control of balance with visual feedback.

Dr. Jon Mukand, Sargent’s medical director, noted that extra precautionary measures have to be taken when a child endures a head injury due to the fact that the recovery process can be longer and more complicated. Younger athletes have a greater risk of encountering more severe symptoms and cognitive decline because their brains aren’t fully developed.

“If there is any suspicion of brain injury, a child should be kept out of play for seven days, period,” Mukand said. “That’s kind of my gold standard because, in that first seven days, about 80 percent of people will have resolution of their symptoms. But then there are some whose symptoms are persistent for a longer time, or even the rest of their lives.”

Once a youth athlete has one concussion, they are then more vulnerable to enduring a second, something that can be destructive in the long term.

The compression on the brain’s frontal lobe from a contact sport can alter daily functions. The frontal lobe is responsible for executive functions such as insight, judgment, planning and organization. If not treated properly, this can negatively effect a student in many ways, even in the classroom.

“I believe that tackling in youth football before high school should not be done,” Mukand said. “I’m actually happy that my son never showed an interest in playing football, and he’s a big, strong kid who might have done well.”

Several parents across the country have echoed those same thoughts, with youth football numbers declining in recent years as concussion awareness and the dangers surrounding concussions continue to surface.

Locally, Warwick PAL football commissioner and Toll Gate assistant coach Jack Paliotte is involved with the game at both the youth and high school levels and has his own perspective on the issue.

He noted that the Riddell helmets that his PAL program uses help a great deal in preventing the concussions, with head injuries coming few and far between this fall. However, he has noticed that the issue is greater at the high school level, at least as of late.

“We’ve had a few, but considering we had approximately 200 kids participating, that number is a norm for a season,” Paliotte said about concussions at the youth level. “However, I coach at Toll Gate where we had a very high number, in my opinion. I’m not sure if it’s a helmet issue or not.”

The number of youth participants at PAL has declined a bit from 225 to 235 a handful of years ago to about 200 this year.

However, Paliotte doesn’t believe that the decline is due to concussion issues, but possibly because kids have other interests or simply don’t want to play.

As someone who is around the high school game quite a bit, I can say that coaches and trainers around the state, for the most part, do an outstanding job of treating concussions and taking the necessary steps in making sure that an athlete is fully recovered before returning to action. A big part of this is because coaches are required to go through and pass a concussion test before stepping on the field at the high school level.

But there’s no question that the concerns surrounding concussions in football are validated based on the statistics at hand.

Those who want to play will play, but they’ll have to do so at their own risk.