Increased profile of “Q-Collar” invites further discussion
By Keya Mookencherry. This article was initially published in our Concussion Update newsletter; please consider subscribing.
If you have watched the Women’s World Cup and other professional soccer matches recently, you may see players wearing a “Q collar” around their necks. Q-collars are also worn by over “two dozen college and NFL teams.” Why do we see this? The Q-collar is commonly referred to as a concussion-prevention method, although the company says the Q-collar helps “protect the brain” of contact athletes over a season of play. The FDA authorized the Q-collar due to the device possibly reducing subtle brain changes associated with repetitive head impacts.
Although there have been several studies on why the Q collar may be effective, there have also been several critiques of the device and its negatives, highlighted in a previous Concussion Alliance review. For example, several limitations include not being “demonstrated to prevent long-term cognitive function deficits,” no evaluation of clinical outcome impacts, and the data not “demonstrat[ing] that the device can prevent concussion or serious brain injury.”
According to the WDHN ABC article, the FDA says the Q-Collar “compresses against the jugular veins in the athlete’s neck, increasing the volume of blood in their skulls blood vessels. The increased blood then creates a ‘tighter fit of the brain inside the skull,’ which could reduce” the amount the brain moves inside the skull. However, this device also has some risks, not just rewards. Not only may the Q-Collar provide athletes with a possible sense of false security, but there are other risks, such as passing out.
Risks also include syncope (passing out) and having a false sense of security while participating in sports, despite the FDA claim that the “probable benefits” outweigh the “probable risks.” Regarding probable benefits, the FDA says there is limited brain tissue damage; however, the FDA also claimed there is “uncertainty surrounding the imaging technology that the studies relied on,” and that certain conclusions related to brain injury have not been “validated.”
Dr. Julie Stamm (a Concussion Alliance Expert Advisory Board Member) suggested on social media X (Twitter) that increasing “pressure in the brain’s vasculature” might have long-term consequences by increasing leakage across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). “Perivascular tau is a key CTE feature. One theory is that substances leaking through the BBB may damage nearby neurons, possibly leading to CTE pathology.”
