Moncton Business Aims To Help Lower Risk Of Concussions In Young Athletes
MONCTON – When osteopath Sylvain Mancuso moved from France to Canada, one of his children began playing hockey. He started noticing the high number of concussions that athletes suffer from, especially in Canada’s favourite sport. He sought to mitigate that by starting Concussion Heroes.
“I have two kids and one plays hockey, and I was a little bit concerned about that,” Mancuso said.
The company has been in the works for seven years, but it has only officially launched this week. Mancuso had worked with the Moncton Wild Cats hockey team, providing a health protocol that Concussion Heroes will now offer to other practitioners. In the first year of implementation, concussions were reduced by 80 per cent and the team only had five concussions over the last six years.
The protocol is provided to so-called Concussion Heroes – which includes athletic therapists, parents and coaches, among others – to follow. It covers dietary needs, exercise routines and therapy that may be needed for an athlete to be at optimal health, which reduces the risk of concussion. Under the protocol, an athlete is also screened for points in the body that may need to be strengthened or balanced.
“It’s a complete package. If you want to play without the feeling that it’s maybe dangerous, you need to do what you need to do,” he said.
Different players can be hit with a similarly large impact, but not all of them result in a concussion. Mancuso said this is because when players are healthier or certain points in their bodies are strengthened, they can avoid concussion even when hit. For instance, a weak neck, vision field problems and ankle issues can all raise the risk of concussion, Mancuso said. But a more flexible body would reduce that risk.
When a player is healthier before the concussion, that would also affect recovery and long-term impact in a positive way.
While the protocol can be offered to athletes young and old, Mancuso’s focus is on children and youth.
“It’s our kids, you know? And they need their brain,” he said. “[Sports] is part of the society. We are not going to put our kids in a closed room. But I think we need to help them to be more ready.”
Now he aims to have at least one Concussion Hero in each province by October.
“The goal of Concussion Heroes is that – try to bring this protocol that we did with Wild Cats to every player who wants to be safer and be play-ready,” Mancuso said, “We have to have more concussion heroes in all the communities to try to take care of as many people as we can. Because I can’t do it all by myself. And the idea is more to teach and give the protocol to other therapists.”
The cost of the protocol for athletes is $499, but that’s covered by insurance under osteopathy or physiotherapy care. He hasn’t decided on a set price for practitioners.
Mancuso said while it’s impossible to avoid all concussion, he hopes he can reach the same results as those he achieved with the Wild Cats.
“The few [concussions] we can reduce, that will be a win.”