Sports-Related Concussions Reach Epidemic Proportions; Revolutionary Oral Appliance Reduces Risk; Brain-Pad Locks the Jaw and Absorbs the Blow, So the Brain Doesn't.

Sports & Collegiate Athletic Editors/Football Writers & Columnists

NOTE TO MEDIA: Multimedia assets available

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 5, 2002

As football season opens this fall, some 1.5 million high school football players will take to the gridiron, unaware that 250,000 of them will suffer concussions or serious brain injuries this season, according to a recent study released by the Brain Injury Association. But the makers of a new oral appliance believe they have an inexpensive way to stem this epidemic of brain injuries and make contact sports safer.

Brain-Pad(TM), from WIPSS Products, Inc., (www.brain-pad.com), is the first oral appliance that prevents concussion and serious brain injury by locking an athlete's lower jaw into a static and safe position, preventing it from slipping back and transmitting a blow to the brain. In fighting sports, such as boxing, karate and Taekwondo, it has long been known that the jaw presents the optimal target for knocking out opponents. That's because the jaw serves as a lever, transmitting force from a blow through the jawbone up through the glenoid fossa, a wafer thin bone that sits at the base of the brain. Force delivered to the brain is the primary cause of concussions and brain injuries. And as athletes become stronger, their ability to deliver greater force increases each year, with devastating effect. In fact, the Brain Injury Association estimates that brain injuries now account for 85% of all football-related fatalities. Even so-called low impact sports, such as soccer, are now seeing 5% of players sustain brain injuries from direct head-to-head contacts, as well as heading of the ball.

Ironically, inexpensive mouthpieces--the kind designed to protect upper teeth from impact--may well be contributing to this epidemic. The plastic surfaces of these mouthpieces, when wet, act as a perfect skating surface for the jaw to move backwards at will--amplifying the force of impact to the brain. Helmet manufacturers may also be unwittingly contributing to the problem. Their stronger, better-padded equipment allow athletes to deliver greater blows but do nothing to prevent the jaw from exploding backwards from a hit and delivering knockout blows to the brain.

The Brain-Pad differs dramatically from other mouth guards currently in use by providing two channels for both the top and bottom teeth to mold into. Designed by an Oral Surgeon, the Brain-Pad actually moves the lower jaw slightly down and forward, creating a safety space between the end of the jawbone and the base of the brain. Once moved forward, the jaw is then locked into place--giving athletes a slightly more menacing appearance and much greater safety. The forces from the blows are then absorbed by the Brain-Pad, which is constructed from two types of plastic--a hardened inner layer with the impact resistance of plastics used in automotive body parts. A softer, more pliant outer layer provides for wearer comfort and protects both lower and upper teeth from damage--and is customized by the wearer by boiling the Brain-Pad and then fitting it while still malleable.

So effective is Brain-Pad that a 1997 study of 3,500 high school and college athletes who wore the Brain-Pad for an entire season found that only one suffered any type of concussion or brain injury. Impact studies conducted by Wayne State University's National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE) Biomechanics Research Center found that Brain-Pad reduced the force of a 60-inch downward head drop to the TMJ (Temporal mandibular joint) from 438 pounds per square inch with a common mouth guard to 222 pounds per square inch with Brain-Pad. As reference, current NOCSAE helmet safety standards require football helmets be able to absorb a minimum of 300 pounds of force per square inch. If common mouth guards were similarly regulated, they would be off the market.

The Brain-Pad offers two additional advantages. Because the device moves the jaw forward, it opens airways in the throat by 100%. A built in, always-open breathing vent enables players to breath through the mouth, as well as the nose, allowing for greater oxygen intake. Additionally, in a 2002 study at Cheyney State University in Pennsylvania, athletes who wore Brain-Pad during strength tests demonstrated increased performance by as much as 32%, due to the ability to comfortably clench their teeth for longer periods throughout the lift, allowing for greater stimulation of the muscles through the Vegas nerve.

The Brain-Pad, which retails for $19.95, is available at more than 1,400 retail locations nationwide, including Modell's, The Sports Authority, Sport Chalet, Olympia Sports, MC Sports and Decathlon Sports Megastores. Through an agreement with Everlast Worldwide Inc., (Nasdaq:EVST), the product is marketed to fighting sports under the brand name, Everlast(R) Brain-Pad(TM).

For more information about Brain-Pad, contact Joe Mitchell at [phone] or [e-mail], or by visiting online at www.brain-pad.com.

From:                           For:
Gregory FCA                     Brain-Pad
27 West Athens Ave.             WIPSS Products, Inc.
Ardmore, PA 19003               322 Fayette Street
                                Conshohocken, PA 19428

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