My 12-year-old son sustained a mild concussion and neck strain playing hockey on Sunday. My husband took him to urgent care and he also had a precautionary scan at the hospital, which was negative. However, he continues to have symptoms of headache, fatigue, dizziness and some light and sound sensitivity. I made an appointment with his pediatrician for first thing in the morning to have him re-evaluated. I feel like we've covered the medical aspect pretty well, but I'm looking for personal experiences and stories. If your child sustained a concussion how long did it take to recover, resolve symptoms, resume normal activities, resume sports, etc.? He does fine when he rests, but when he tried to go back to school or do much other than rest then the symptoms return. FYI, he is not trying to play sports or resume strenuous activities yet; I'm concerned about just his daily school routine, etc. at this point, but also curious about when he might feel well enough to return to gym class and sports. The doctor said at least a week or until symptoms resolve and coach said it would take longer than a week for any sports, but I just want him to be able to have a productive, pain free day at school. Thanks!
He was re-evaluated by his own pediatrician this morning. Based on some cognitive testing the doctor did he thinks he will be just fine, but he has post-concussive syndrome. Most kids recover in 1-2 weeks, but some kids take months and the doctor can't tell us how long it will take. We did get some more guidelines on activities. He will be 1/2 days at school until the symptoms improve. No TV or video games so he is bored although tired. NO hockey or other contact sports until he is completely symptom free for 7 consecutive days. He is really bummed he is missing a school skiing field trip and a Boy Scout outing to an arcade. He also wanted to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie this weekend. )-: I'm still interested in hearing personal stories as to whether your kid was on the shorter or longer end of the recovery period.
The doc said a week? If he's having that many symptoms try more like a few weeks. That's the problem is docs don't give concussions enough time to heal and then the kid is prone to them, it's ridiculous.
My son had a very mild concussion in football and they made him wait a week and he didn't even have all those symptoms. Get a second opinion before you let him do any activities.
Hi Cindy,
Your son needs to rest (physically and cognitively) until he has no symptoms at rest. When he returns to activities, they need to be very gradual. Maybe half-day school, classes but no homework, full day but with rest breaks at the nurse's office, for example. Exercise needs to be introduced gradually and ramped up only when tolerated well. No physical activity at first. Then just walking or swimming. The coach will let him participate in light practice at first (no contact!), increasing to brief spurts of activity, working up to full contact. If at any point he develops symptoms during play (headache, dizziness, nausea or just plain not feeling well) he need to back off to the last activity he was able to perform symptmom-free.
The CDC has a great deal of information including parent-geared info in clear lay language. Check it out at www.cdc.gov/concussion.
If I sound like I've been through this a few times I have. My son was the victim of a traumatic brain injury a few years back at the hands of a drunk driver. I've made it my business to learn everything I can about brain injury.
p.s. I'm also a pediatrician.
Call the hospital where he was at and ask for a nurse on the pediatrics floor. If it is not super busy they are very helpful.
It really depends on how hard he was hit and how well his body heals. My hubby and stepson play hockey and this is part of it. I am sure your son still has brain swelling, which is what causes the symptoms. I would talk to his doctor and maybe set up another brain scan just to rule out anything more. Unfortunately these things take a lot of time to heal and some will leave lasting effects.
I had a bad concussion when I was a kid (had an imprint of the tile floor on my forehead) and I was in the hospital for about a week. It took some time after to get back to normal, can’t remember how long though.
I must have a pretty thick skull... mine are good usually 2-3 days later.
(Yes. That's plural. I'm a clutz.)
Step aside ladies--SADLY an expert on this.
Growing up I had THREE of them and until only THREE YEARS ago I still had issues stemming from them and the last one happened when I was about 14 years old. I'm (almost) 44 years old.
For YEARS I had horrible migraines and jaw pain. I suppose taking an aluminium BAT to the head while playing catcher doesn't help.
I missed work, holidays, outings--you NAME it from them.
After years of attemping to get my dentist to listen to me I saw a specialist and found out that I had almost NO cartlidge over the bone and the eardrum. I felt like I had a constant earache but learned to just live with it NOT knowing it was FIXABLE. THREE F-ING DECADES of pain that could have been prevented/controlled!
After a VERY long medical history my doctor traced my early childhood concussions being the beginning of the pain. I was FLOORED. I left her office in TEARS. She PROMISED me she would be able to help me and there would be NO surgery involved. One of my BIGGEST fears.
After a GIANT splint (retainer) was made I started LOTS of physical therapy. It HURT a LOT but I made progress. I had LEARNED to live with the pain and had NO IDEA I could FEEL better.
BASICALLY what I'm trying to say is concussions are NO JOKE and can have LONG LASTING effects on people. Just something to be aware of.
I had a concussion several weeks ago. I now have post-concussion syndrome. I will have headaches, dizziness, nausea and other symptoms for 3-6 months at the least. I could have issues up to a year later. The doctor told me if I bump my head again, I need to go to the ER immediately for a scan.
Get him into his pedi and talk to him about it. He could have post concussion syndrome, or it could just be that he needs a week or so to heal.
All of a sudden i am hearing a ton of concussion stories. So sorry to hear you are going through this. I fell on ice 2 weeks ago and got a concussion. I am still sleepy but every day is getting better. I had a friend whos 12 year old son fell last week and hit his head. She ended up doing a follow up call after the weekend at the Childrens hospital and they told her basically no tv, ipod, reading, tv etc for 6 weeks. Nothing that could possibly cause further injury. I think a lot of it depends on how hard he hit etc.
good Luck!
