"2nd Skull" May Offer Hope To Combat Sports-Related Head Injuries

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- A new invention could offer hope to combat sports-related head injuries and concussions.

High school junior Rachel Corrigan loves playing basketball but she's taken blows to the head during the game and now she's changing how she plays.

"I took an elbow to the head during practice, and I didn't feel good after that," said Corrigan.

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She suffered multiple concussions and head injuries so now Corrigan wears a head band developed by entrepreneur Federico Olivares. He has children who he wanted to make sure could be safe playing sports.

"I was really looking for one product that could really protect my kids -- and any kids -- throughout the year, so if there was one product that I could give them that they could use in multiple sports, what would it look like -- and that's really the birth of 2nd Skull," said Olivares.

Olivares couldn't find that one product so he developed his own, a head band and a skull cap for under a helmet that, he says, adds from 35 to 60 percent more impact protection.

"It's a soft urethane called XRD and basically the material hardens upon impact. So the great thing about this material is that it is very soft, flexible, but at sudden impact it hardens and that's how we add the protection," said Olivares.

Doctor Mickey Collins is an expert in sports-related head injuries and when it comes to concussions he said, "There is no technology that we're aware of that will mitigate that from happening if we get hit hard enough...I encourage companies, scientists to create things that they feel theoretically can play a role."

The second skull makes no claims about concussions, but Olivares said, "We know that even non-concussive head injuries also lead to long-term health effects -- that's where we really want to play."

And for players like Corrigan, they're willing to try anything that could help them put safety first.

"I felt a lot safer on the court with it. It gave me my confidence back on the court to play without feeling oh I'm going to be hit again. I'll be out for another month," said Corrigan.

More than 300 thousand sports related concussions occur every year in the U.S. but it's not just concussions. The National Institute of Health said two million people each year sustain head injuries. That's one every fifteen seconds.

Second skull bands and caps are available online and should be available in major retailers later this spring.