Heads up : Kids and concussions
Kids love to get out and play. Sometimes, this can lead to concussions and pose serious health risks. With the right diagnosis and treatment, kids can back into the field.
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) varies tremendously in causes, symptoms and outcomes. This may depend on the type of brain injury, the severity, and treatment options. TBI’s and concussions come from a blow to the head, or a violent movement of the cranium, causing a jolt to the brain. They can be caused by a number of reasons such as: violence, sports and recreational activities injuries, transportation accidents, a fall, or assaults. A TBI can be trivial, mild simple, mild complex, moderate and severe, which all have different needs and different possible outcomes. Doctors classify traumatic brain injury as mild, moderate or severe, depending on whether the injury causes unconsciousness, how long unconsciousness lasts and the severity of symptoms. If a TBI is suspected, it is important to speak to a doctor as soon as possible to determine the best course of action.
Overview For Parents
- A gradual, closely-supervised active rehabilitation program provides not only means to a faster recovery, but also, qualitatively speaking, increases the self-efficacy and confidence of the child, as well as the empowerment of the parents.
- Having sustained a mild TBI may affect children’s confidence in their performance of specific physical activities, even though they appear to be fully recovered.
Overview For Clinicians
- Although most individuals recover within 2 to 4 weeks after a mild TBI, an estimated 10% to 33% of individuals have persistent symptoms beyond 1 to 3 months after injury.
- Clinicians may want to pursue strategies such as providing information, education or counseling sessions targeting children and their parents that could potentially minimize the impact of the mild TBI on children’s confidence in their performance of physical activities.
- It appears that children with mild TBI comply with activity restrictions given to them by healthcare professionals, particularly in the 1st month following the traumatic injury.
- The Montreal Children’s Hospital Rehabilitation After Concussion (MCH-RAC) program is an effective method to treat children who are slow to recover from a sport-related concussion.
Articles
Can administrative databases such as the RAMQ be used to identify children with traumatic brain injury?
Combining patient information into a physician billing claim data-base (the ramq database), which is readily available, may be a valid method of estimating injury occurrence among children.
Do children who sustain a mild traumatic brain injury lose confidence in returning to physical activity?
Some children, after a mild traumatic brain injury, appear to lack confidence in their ability to perform well during physical activities as compared to before their injury. This occurs even though the children are still participating in physical activities at comparable levels to before injury.
Do children with mild traumatic brain injury comply with activity restrictions given to them by health professionals?
This article shows us that children with mild traumatic brain injury do a good job of complying with the activity restrictions given to them by health care professionals. This finding is a stepping stone for further studies looking at the effectiveness of restricting activity for better recovery from MTBI.
Is there an effective rehabilitation program to help children who are slow to recover from a sports- related concussion?
A gradual, closely-supervised active rehabilitation program provides not only means to a faster recovery, but also, qualitatively speaking, increases the self-efficacy and confidence of the child, as well as the empowerment of the parents.
Therapies
Ontario Neurotrauma Association
These guidelines will help inform your decisions whenever you suspect a child/adolescent has sustained a concussion.
Montreal Children’s Hospital: Concussion Kit
This concussion kit will be useful to coaches, parents, physicians, athletic trainers, physiotherapists, athletic therapist, nurses, athletes, schools, sporting association and others.
Community
TBI Support & Awareness
This page is here to spread awareness for brain injuries.