Philadelphia, May 24, 2023 – Repeatedly heading a soccer ball has been previously associated with negative long-term brain health for professional players. However, in a new study from researchers at the Minds Matter Concussion Program at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), a small number of repeated soccer headers equivalent to a throw-in did not cause immediate neurophysiological deficits for teens, suggesting that limited soccer heading exposure in youth sports may not result in irreversible harm if players are properly trained.
The findings, which represent the most comprehensive real-time study of soccer headers in adolescent athletes, were published in the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering.
For some professional athletes, repeated head loading in sports – using your head as part of the game – is associated with negative long-term brain health even when there are no initial clinical symptoms. Despite the awareness of long-term consequences, short-term neurophysiological issues after repeated head impacts like soccer heading are poorly understood in youth athletes. Some studies have identified potential issues across an entire sports season. This study examined the consequences of repeated head impacts shortly after the heading exposure with a battery of six different tests to examine a wider variety of potential clinical implications.
