Question

1. In a tackling technique known in football as "clotheslining," a player's head is stopped while the rest of his body continues in motion. This could cause paralysis or even death. Describe anatomically what happens in the cervical spine and how this might have catastrophic results.

Answer 1

According to Newton's law ,anything that is in motion will keep on moving unless acted upon by an external force.

Whe a person is running his whole body is moving,there is inertia,when we forcibly stop only the head,all the other body parts remain in motion,the cervical spine too keeps on moving but the head has stopped,in this condition when the cervical spine moves it will hit on the brainstem exiting from the foramen magnum and damage it,this damage will destroy the fibres defending from the brain and hence lead to paralysis,brainstem also has centres for cardiac and respiratory regulation which if damaged may lead to death.