Heading the Soccer Ball--- Is it safe?



                       There are reports suggesting heading a soccer ball possibly cause short term and
                  long term brain injury.

                  Fact: Reported head injury in soccer players is most often from goal post injury- either
                  from an athlete striking it or the goal post falling on the athlete. Reported brain injury
                   from heading the soccer ball is extremely rare.

Here are medical reports suggesting heading the ball is dangerous:
Witol and Webbe (the media read this one), 1995
“...players who head the ball more frequently scored lower on two neuropsychologic tests…”

What Dr. Goldstein doesn't like about this study:
  •        Only 60 players and 12 non-players studied (small sample size)
  •        Six tests were done- only 2 showed a difference, and these are the two that the media stressed
  •        The reports conclusion was-  “the findings do not demonstrate a consistent pattern of increasing deficits   
according to heading estimate per game…”

Another study against heading the ball:

Tysvaer and Sortland, 1991
1/3 of retired soccer players had CT evaluations showing cerebral atrophy outside “normal expected”

What does Dr. Goldstein think about the study:
  •        There are no reports done on other possible causes for head injury not caused by soccer such as alcohol history
car accidents, other sports such as football or boxing for instance

More recent reports have not supported the previous reports:
Jordan, 1996
Compared US National Team Soccer Players and elite track athletes
  • No difference between the two groups with respect to brain MRI, although there was a difference in questionnaires
between soccer players who had head injuries compared to those who had not
  • 9 soccer players with MRI changes, and 6 track athletes with similar changes

Here is another report suggesting heading the soccer ball is not dangerous:

Haglund and Eriksson, 1993
Compared boxers, track, and soccer athletes
  • “no differences among the three groups” with CT, MRI, or neurologic exam
  • Boxers who participated in more than 30 matches had changes on EEG (brain wave study)

Dr. Goldstein's recommendations:

“It would seem to be that heading the soccer ball is a relatively safe activity with regard to the brain. Dry
soccer balls are safer than wet ones. Hitting the ball with the top of the forehead is the safest area to head
the ball. Headache, dizziness, or visual problems after heading the soccer ball should prompt the coach to
look for possible poor heading technique in the athlete. If heading a soccer ball does lead to problems, it
would seem most likely to occur in that subset of players who have experienced one or more acute
concussions.”

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Talk to your physician about the safety of each sport before participation.

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