As students fill classrooms for another school year, several young athletes will soon take to the field to follow their dreams of becoming stars. A health expert offers critical advice for parents to help reduce the chances their child suffers a concussion. While children chase their passions on the field, Texas AM University Sports Medicine Physician Stephen Line said parents should make it their top priority to buy the right protective gear to decrease the chances those athletes suffer a concussion. Line also highlighted several signs parents should be on the lookout for to spot a possible head injury. “Headache, neck pain, confusion issues, you’re not following directions properly, you know, you started missing plays,” said Line. Concussions are normally diagnosed during a clinical exam, according to Line. Once that happens, he said, there’s a five- or six-step progression system athletes must complete before they’re cleared to return to the field. “The goals change, the goal increases from just trying to increase your cardiovascular activity, make sure we’re not provoking symptoms to readiness for sport-specific drills,” said Line. And while athletes eventually can be cleared to play, Line said, they should do so with caution. The barriers to getting cleared can also be different for each player. Should someone suffer a concussion, each following concussion carries compounded risks of long-term effects. “There’s no set number of concussions you have to have in order to be disqualified from a sport. I tell people all the time that, you know, yeah, if you’ve had three or four concussions in the bag, you definitely need to be careful about how you’re managing it going forward,” said Line. According to the Centers for Disease Control, a child’s helmet should fit properly and age-appropriate. The helmet should also be well-maintained and work consistently and correctly. Though parents should be mindful that even with all the proper safety equipment in place, a helmet does not guarantee a concussion can’t happen. ...read more read less