Aug 20, 2008 5:34 pm US/Eastern
Study Shows Cheerleading Injuries On The Rise
(KDKA)
When it comes to sports injuries this time of year, a lot of people think of football players.
But it's actually a different group -- on the sidelines -- seeing a rise in injuries.
"[Cheerleaders] are usually competing in a two and a half minute routine, and they're doing so much in that two and a half minutes, that probably a football player wouldn't do in a whole game," says Keystone Oaks cheerleading coach, Jennifer Nock.
Over the past 25 years, cheerleading has accounted for two out of three catastrophic injuries among female high school and college athletes.
"It's really a lot of twisted ankles, maybe some broken arms, some muscle straining, things like that," says Nock about the injuries her cheerleaders have had. "I've been lucky enough to not have anyone with a major injury."
Dr. Theodore Spinks, a neurosurgeon at Children's Hospital, agrees that most injuries are not life threatening, but can be serious.
"What we see, a fair number of is concussion, more low-grade concussions, which really affect school performance and participation, and then neck injuries, mostly neck strains."
Information from the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research shows since 1982, 67 out of 103 fatal or severe injuries among female high school athletes were because of cheerleading.
The height of falls and high level of energy contribute.
"Cheerleading involves multiple individuals, any one of whom making a mistake will lead to serious injury," explains Dr. Spinks.
The next two most risky sports -- gymnastics and track -- had fewer than one in ten injuries.
To prevent injuries, the researchers and Dr. Spinks recommend that coaches teach the fundamentals and proper technique, that athletic trainers are available and that emergency plans are in place just in case someone gets hurt.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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