Q:Recently, my six-year-old fell off a garden wall and hit his head. He’s still complaining of a headache a couple days later. Should I take him to the emergency room?
A: If your child is still complaining of a headache a couple days later, they should be seen by your primary care physician or a physician who is experienced in treating concussions. An emergency room visit may or may not be necessary, but they should be evaluated by a healthcare professional, regardless.
Red flag symptoms or warning signs that would necessitate an emergency room visit after a hit to the head include a headache that progressively worsens, increasing confusion, repeated vomiting, unequal pupils, seizures, slurred speech, inability to recognize people or places, excessively drowsy and inability to be awakened, weakness/numbness in the arms or legs, unusual behavior, increasing irritability or loss of consciousness.
Q: How long will it take for my child to recover from a mild concussion? He is ready to resume his regular activities, but I want to make sure it is safe to do so.
A: Medical professionals no longer rate concussions as mild, moderate or severe. The recovery time from a concussion varies from individual to individual, depending on a variety of factors. In some situations, an individual with relatively mild symptoms may take a long time to recover. Conversely, an individual with severe symptoms may recover relatively quickly. For this reason, physicians often do not classify a concussion until after the individual has fully recovered.
Before returning to activity it is important that your child be cleared by a medical professional. Typically, an individual should be asymptomatic, pass a graduated exercise progression, score within normal ranges on neuropsychological tests, such as ImPACT or SWAY and receive clearance by a physician prior to returning to sports.
Q: I don’t see what all the hype about concussions is. When I was a kid, everyone got their bell rung. Now, it seems every time a child falls, a parent is there to overreact. What has changed?
A: Concussions are serious head injuries and are considered a mild traumatic brain injury. Medical knowledge of concussions has increased significantly over the past 20 years, partially in thanks to the increased attention and awareness of concussions in professional sports, such as the NFL.
We now know that getting your “bell rung” is in fact a concussion and should be treated as such. Having healthcare professionals, such as athletic trainers, at all sporting events is important to ensure that when a child is hit in the head they can be evaluated by a healthcare professional trained in concussion care to determine if the individual has sustained a concussion or not. This allows parents to relax knowing that their children are being looked after by independent health care professionals who have their child’s best interest at heart.
Additionally, Oregon law dictates that all youth who show signs of a possible concussion must be removed from play and cannot return until they have been cleared by a healthcare professional.
Q: I noticed this year at my son’s high school soccer games an athletic trainer present on the sidelines ready to evaluate any athlete involved in a collision. I am impressed by this program and would like to know more.
A: Athletic trainers are highly qualified, multi-skilled health care professionals specifically trained in the prevention, examination, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of medical conditions and emergent, acute and chronic injuries. Athletic training is recognized by the American Medical Association, Health Resources Services Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services as an allied health care profession.
The Center Foundation, a local 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has been providing athletic trainers to Central Oregon high schools since 2000. You can learn more about this program and other programs we provide by visiting: centerfoundation.org.
This article appears in Jul 25, 2023 – Aug 14, 2024.
MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
