Concussion And Your Child
Posted on: 4 September 2017
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If your child participates in contact sports, it is possible that he or she will receive a concussion at some point. A concussion occurs when a physical impact causes the brain to hit the inside of your child's skull on the initial impact, then hit the skull again as the brain rebounds from the impact.
Here are three important things that you need to know about concussions and your child to ensure proper diagnosis and recovery in the future.
1. Children display behavioral symptoms.
Determining if your child has experienced a concussion can be challenging, since there may not be any physical signs of the injury. When an adult experiences a concussion, there are usually physical signs like fatigue, headache, and even drowsiness.
For children, the symptoms of a concussion tend to be more behavioral in nature. Your child may become more irritable and have trouble sleeping at night. Be sure that you are watching for behavioral changes in your child when trying to determine if an impact has resulted in a concussion.
2. Children often experience memory loss after concussion.
Your child's brain is still developing. Vital connections between the cells in the brain are still forming throughout your child's youth, a process known as myelination. Incomplete myelination is thought to be one of the reasons that your child could experience memory loss following a concussion.
Don't be alarmed if your child is active and walking around, but has no memory of incidents that took place right after sustaining a concussion. Post-traumatic memory loss is more common in children who have experienced a concussion, but this symptom is temporary and will not affect your child's memory in the future.
3. Your child doesn't need to be sheltered after a concussion.
Once your child has experienced a concussion, you may be tempted to shelter him or her by keeping the child in a dark room for an extended period of time during recovery.
While limiting your child's intense physical activity during the recovery phase is important, it's also important that your child continues to be exposed to stimuli. It's perfectly fine for a child with a concussion to watch TV, read a book, or use a computer as long as these activities don't make the symptoms of their concussion worse.
Being able to understand your child's concussion and working with a neurosurgeon will help you more effectively diagnose and treat these brain injuries in the future.