The 7-on-7 football state championships begin Thursday in College Station.
For the third year, players will be required to wear a protective headband known as the Halo.
It is a Kevlar headband, the origins of which come from the military.
But do doctors in our area believe they are effective?
According to Doctor Joshua Parker at Express ER in Waco, there has only been one informal study done on the Halo but it proved to reduce concussion risk. If a parent asked if their child should wear one he would say yes.
Jim Caldwell, the Executive Vice President of Unequal, the company which makes the Halo said it is designed to reduce the risk of concussions by decreasing the amount of force absorbed by the head.
Caldwell emphasized though it is just to reduce the risk, it will not eliminate concussions from football.
“This is not a product that eliminates or prevents concussions,” Caldwell said. “but it certainly does reduce the risk.”
Dr. Parker said preliminary data was fairly impressive.
“They had reduced rates of concussions per the report they’re putting gout in their advertising,” Parker said. “I would like to see some formal studies to replicate that data.”