Earnhardt Jr. Helps UPMC Raise Concussion Awareness
PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) - The Sports Medicine Concussion Program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has teamed with NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. and catcher David Ross to raise awareness on concussion treatments.
According to a news release, UPMC and the Concussion Program see over 17,000 patient concussion patient visits a year.
Now, UPMC has launched the website ReThinkConcussions.com to detail the concussion treatments currently available.
"An important reality is this: Concussion is treatable if managed properly," UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program Clinical and Executive Director Dr. Michael Collins said in a statement. "With all the new research we've done and the nearly 200 papers we've helped to publish in the past decade or so, we now are able to provide proven treatments and evidence-based rehabilitation therapies. That should be the conversation now instead of the near-hysteria."
The site features separate videos from Earnhardt Jr. and Ross describing their personal experience with concussions.
A 30-second version of Earnhardt's video will air nationally during the upcoming NASCAR races at Martinsville and Homestead. It will also be shown regionally during the World Series and evening news broadcasts.
Both Earnhardt and Ross participated without compensation, according to UPMC.
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