Despite claims that enhanced football helmets help lower the risk of concussions for football players, a new study proves the entire theory wrong, Fox News reported.
In the report presented on Monday at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in Orlando, researchers said they found no difference in risk after studying different brands of helmets worn by high school players.
"Our preliminary findings suggest that neither any specific brand of football helmet nor custom mouth guards result in fewer concussions in kids who use them," lead co-investigator Dr. Margaret Alison Brooks said in a news release.
Additionally, custom mouth guards offered no additional protection either. In fact, athletes wearing custom-fitted mouthguards suffered higher rates of concussions than those who did not wear customized ones.
The study contradicts claims made by helmet and mouthguard manufacturers that their football gear does a better job at protecting athletes from concussions.
"Despite what manufacturers might claim, newer and more expensive equipment may not reduce concussion risk," Brooks said. "So is it worth the significant extra cost to families and schools?"
The researchers observed 1,332 adolescent football players from 36 high schools across the U.S. in 2012. Of the group, 115 (8.5 percent) athletes suffered an injury during the season.
All of the participants wore helmets made by Riddell, Schutt, or Xenith and revealed that the brand or year it was made in stood out as safer.
"Because the brain is floating freely inside the skull, I think most experts doubt whether it is possible to ever develop a helmet design that can prevent concussion," Brooks wrote.
Each year, around 40,000 sports-related concussions occur in U.S. high schools.
Concussions in football players, ranging from the high school to professional level, continue to cause concern given the resulting brain damage -- specifically chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) -- it has caused athletes.
