• by Karl Greenberg , October 31, 2014

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is launching a national and regional digital and TV campaign to promote its Sports Medicine Concussion Program (UPMC), a stand-alone clinic dealing with sports-related brain injury. The message is that while symptoms are sometimes non-specific, and the injury undetectable by MRI or radiology, one can get full recovery with the right therapy.

The effort, which includes a national TV spot, brings in UPMC patients NASCAR great Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Major League catcher David Ross, who tell their stories in separate videos. Ross' video will air on regional TV, and Earnhardt, Jr.'s will be national. The two videos, plus other testimonials are also central to a digital component. Each participated in the spots without compensation.

The digital component at ReThinkConcussions.com delves into concussion issues, symptoms, risks and treatment. The center, which has been open since 2000, says it treats more sports-related concussions than any other program nationally with 17,000 patient visits per year. 

In one video, Earnhardt is consulting with Collins after multiple crashes in 2012, which had stalled his career. “The best decision I made was to go to UPMC,” he says. Ross had two brain injuries last year that damaged his playing ability and gave him a labile personality that put his domestic life on edge. “Without [the program], I would not be a baseball player anymore. They saved my career.”

Other professional athletes who are, or will be, featured in the ReThinkConcussions.com initiative include former NFL quarterback Brady Quinn, Major League second baseman Brian Roberts and Tyler Hansbrough of the NBA, among others. The clinic says the effort will also feature others, including recreational, amateur, and high school athletes. 

According to CDC stats through 2010, while traumatic brain injury (TBI)-related deaths have plummeted since 2007, the number of reported concussions have spiked at the same rate. The American Association of Neurological Surgeons says that while death from sports-related injuries is low, TBI is the prevalent cause. 

Although the media focus has been on football and the NFL, cycling is number one by far, with nearly twice the number of concussion events than football, per 2009 data. The Association, using Consumer Product Safety Commission numbers, says in that year there were 446,788 sports-related head injuries treated at U.S. hospitals. But the organization also says it's likely the numbers are much higher because the long-tail of products with 1,200 injuries or less are excluded; and a lot of head injuries aren't treated in hospitals.