Head trauma - particularly in sports – has been brought to the forefront of the medical field as we start to learn more about the long term effects of repeated head impacts (known in the medical field as RHI). The prevention of these injuries is a genuinely serious issue that both doctors and sports equipment manufacturers are looking to solve, or at the least improve upon. Sports technology has progressed tenfold over even just the past decade, helmets included; but as far as helmet tech has come, they are generally limited to preventing skull fractures and external lacerations from the outside, still leaving the brain vulnerable as it is able to freely move and impact the skull on the inside. Q30 Innovations decided it was time to think beyond the helmet, and we at Lacrosse Unlimited will be the first retail space to sell their product, the Q-Collar.
Function
Existing sports equipment like helmets focus on protecting the head from the outside. But that doesn't prevent the rapid acceleration and deceleration of the brain that leads to the twisting and tearing of neurons, causing traumatic brain injuries (TBIs).
The Q-Collar helps protect the brain by applying light pressure to the jugular veins, which slightly increases blood volume inside the head and helps reduce the brain’s movement.
The science that goes into the Q-Collar is backed by a decade of research, including 7 pre-clinical studies, 17 clinical studies and 5 tolerability studies. The independent clinical trials evaluated a large sample of athletes whose brains were scanned (using advanced MRIs) before their respective season, and then half of the athletes wore the Q-Collar during their season. All athletes were scanned after the season and the results were shown as below – brain scans showed significantly more damaged brain tissue in the athletes that did not wear the Q- Collar.
The results from the extensive clinical research led to an FDA clearance for the Q-Collar, which allows Q30 to market to customers using this official statement:
The Q-Collar is a non-invasive device intended to be worn around the neck by athletes 13 and older during sports activities to aid in the protection of the brain from effects associated with repetitive sub-concussive head impacts.
One of the most significant figures coming out of the clinical trials showed that 77% of athletes using the Q-Collar showed NO significant changes in brain tissue after a season of play, where only 27% of athletes who did not use the Q-Collar showed no significant change. The difference between these two percentages is significant, and shows how the Q-Collar helps reduce a serious threat to athletes’ health both during and after their careers. We are seeing professionals across the PLL start to use the Q-Collar as a preventative measure and we expect to see its usage to increase. We first saw the Q-Collar in the NFL a few years back when Luke Kuechly – an elite linebacker and defensive captain who had a history of concussions and head injuries – began to wear a Q-Collar on the field during its trial phase, and continued to wear it for 2 years before retiring.
Our Part
We consider ourselves more than a business, and we hope to impact the community for the better. The safety of all of our athletes and customers is extremely important to us, and we want to promote the idea that you should do what you can to protect your brain, for immediate and long term reasons. This is why we have been working with the team at Q30 to become the first retail space to sell the Q-Collar. If you head down to your local LU, our managers can give you additional info regarding the product, and even size you and let you try the product on if you are looking to buy. We’re here for you, and we’re looking to change the game, one less head injury at a time.
See below for additional third party reviews on the product!
“…for all the young athletes in high school, the Q-Collar offers some clinically backed protection to their brains during their earliest days of playing a sport. So hopefully a few mistakes on the field don’t need to follow them through life.” – Fast Company, 9.15.2021
Vernon Davis, NFL tight end: “Once I was introduced to it, I wore it all the time…I would wear it when I was riding my bike. Whatever it was, if I had to do something with physical activity, I was wearing it.” – AP News, 10.8.2021
Michael Sowers: “The Q-Collar has given me the confidence to walk on the field and play like myself again knowing it is helping keep my brain protected. I won’t step on the field without it.” – USA Lacrosse Magazine, March 2022
