Tell me about caring for a child with a concussion

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could she attend some of the social events? Those that are just social and not doing strenuous activities should be okay.

A warning here. I don't think this happens very often but you should be on the alert for sudden personality changes and changes in behavior. My teen had a concussion (was unconscious for ten minutes) not all that long ago, but long enough ago that no one seemed to care (and yes, I'm talking about you Childrens!) about concussions unless there was bleeding in the brain.

Within two weeks, my DC went from no use of bad language to swearing at me with the f word. Within a month, there was huge erratic behavior like going from going out on weekend nights with reasonable constraints that were not questioned to suddenly staying out all night with me clueless as to where DC was.

There was much more, and I was at my wits end--found a psychiatrist who tried various meds none of which did much but no one put two and two together with the concussion. Hope you don't encounter this, but if you do be insistent that the concussion be considered as an underlying cause.

Once they knew the behavior was from the concussion, what were they able to do to help him? Or is it still an issue?

[Anonymous]

PP here. No it was never linked and never really addressed. We did the usual psychiatry, therapy; after a while child refused treatment. We muddled along for a very long time while the worst behaviors tailed off after about nine months. Mopping up the residual took longer and but DC has been back to normal for some time.

I don't want to worry you, but I really wish someone had forewarned me of this possibility as I would have been so much better positioned to address it.

Again not to scare you, but just to let you know what to be on the alert for, here is a brief summary of post-concussion syndrome (random Google, I am sure there are probably better sites):

http://calder.med.miami.edu/pointis/tbiprov/NEUROPSYCHOLOGY/psych1.html

A lot has been learned in the past few years, particularly through the armed forces dealing with those who have been affected by concussions sustained in Iraq.

[Anonymous]

Our DD was only 5 when she had her injury, and it was pretty bad (skull fracture, not verbal for six hours) but she did not return to school for a month, and even then only for an hour at a time. She was exhausted and had headaches. It was six months before the daily headaches stopped. GL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our DD was only 5 when she had her injury, and it was pretty bad (skull fracture, not verbal for six hours) but she did not return to school for a month, and even then only for an hour at a time. She was exhausted and had headaches. It was six months before the daily headaches stopped. GL.

What caused her injury?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here. No it was never linked and never really addressed. We did the usual psychiatry, therapy; after a while child refused treatment. We muddled along for a very long time while the worst behaviors tailed off after about nine months. Mopping up the residual took longer and but DC has been back to normal for some time.

I don't want to worry you, but I really wish someone had forewarned me of this possibility as I would have been so much better positioned to address it.

Again not to scare you, but just to let you know what to be on the alert for, here is a brief summary of post-concussion syndrome (random Google, I am sure there are probably better sites):

http://calder.med.miami.edu/pointis/tbiprov/NEUROPSYCHOLOGY/psych1.html

A lot has been learned in the past few years, particularly through the armed forces dealing with those who have been affected by concussions sustained in Iraq.

PP, so sorry you went thru this. I just want to give OP a heads up to also be on the look out for depression. Depression can appear as part of the immediate post-concussion syndrome, as students are stressed from dealing with the limitations and isolation. Or it can appear months or years later. Also, attention problems can be triggered by concussion and can be very subtle.

[Anonymous]

My teen was just diagnosed with a mild concussion. Any advice? It's very scary to him and to us

[Anonymous]

Hi PP. Brain rest. As in, have your child lie down in a dark room with their eyes shut bored out of their skull. For real.

If this is as hard as it sounds (it is...I've done it), s/he can try a Yoga Nidra podcast to relax and rest.

It can take several weeks for the symptoms to totally lift.

[Anonymous]

12:009 again. PP. can you tell me a little bit more about the severity of your son's concussion and how it happened?

To clarify what I said before about symptoms lifting over the course of weeks, symptoms that stick around can be really subtle stuff, like the ability to balance on one foot with your eyes closed.

My own mild concussion (at age 39 two years ago) involved an accidental kick to the back of the head during sports, and although I recognized that I was probably concussed when it happened and took precautions accordingly, I didn't feel particularly goofy until a day and a half later.

[Anonymous]

Regardless of which school system your child is in, you will find this thread on the Maryland Schools forum of interest:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/506896.page

I would keep my child out of school for the rest of this week with no screen time and very low cognitive strain. If your DC seems really just fine by the end of the weekend, you could send him to school on Monday. But if he shows ANY signs of having any adverse effects--and PPs here have given lots of good information on the more subtle ones that could easily be missed--I'd just pull him out for the year and have him continue to rest, especially cognitively. They won't be doing much next week anyway--maybe have him attend just social events if there are any.

A big obvious sign of stuff going on is very long night sleeping.

[Anonymous]

My son (high school) got a football concussion. We went to a concussion specialist who specializes in athletes in a neurologist practice.
He was put on 3 weeks of total cognitive rest. No school, no schoolwork. No reading, no video gAmes, no iPad.
Interestingly, he was free to watch TV, because TV is a completely passive activity in terms of cognitive activity.
So he watched TV for 3 weeks straight while he was home. There was nothing else to do!

He recovered well. For a week or so he was extremely irritable. Got headaches, sensitive to sound and light. Last 2 weeks of recovery were much better.

[Anonymous]

I'm the new OP of this thread - he got hit at PE at school. They said it was probably a mild concussion. He has definitely been complaining of headaches and is on around the clock advil. Doctor told him no screens at all so no TV etc and he even said to me today that it's been nice. I think he is improving.

[Anonymous]

My child missed ~ 3 weeks of school due to concussion last year. He laid in bed listening to books on tape, had a few short visitors and mostly rested. His school gave him a 504 plan to help him make up/finish the year. Given how helpful the school was he finished up just fine.
After he was able to get out of bed, he had a few weeks of on again, off again headaches and exhaustion at any exerting activity. Then after he was able to go back to normal level of activity, I noticed subtle changes to his behavior. 1. he was more emotional (ie got upset more easily), and had a harder time with organization (keeping track of things, sense of time. These were very subtle that only a mom might notice. He's all better now, but it took about a year.