Two winters ago, my youngest son suffered a concussion and it was very stressful for both of us. I know there are a lot of parents out there right now experiencing the same thing during hockey and ski season. Concussions can happen anywhere, anytime but they are making a lot of headlines lately.
I thought this amazing and simple video about concussions, and how to care for them might be helpful if you or someone you know has a child suffering from one this year. It’s made in a kid-friendly way, so you can share it with your child.
It was created by Dr. Mike Evans, a good friend of ours at SavvyMom, and we’re pleased to present it to our readers. I hope it helps, but I hope you don’t need it!
Concussions from Dr. Mike Evans on Vimeo.
Comments
This is a fantastic video by Dr. Evans. Simple, fun-to-watch and informative. I’m sending the link to all the Moms I know with active kids. Let’s get the concussion message out there so kids understand this injury and, most important, TALK to adults to get help. Thanks, Minnow for this one!!!
Great video, thanks for sharing.
This is a GREAT video Minnow, I am sharing on to all our fans.
In October, my 13 yo suffered a concussion that was NOT diagnosed (Drs said it was whiplash). We were totally guilty of not recognizing the symptoms and most importantly, when we did, not recognizing the severity or knowing what to do.
I’ve learned NOT many Doctors know much about how to diagnose or treat concussions.
I suggest if you are going through this, finding someone who specializes in and is familiar with treating concussions.
It was not until weeks after, that we began piecing it all together, and at that time, because she did NOT rest her brain as she should have, things got worse, headaches whenever she tried to concentrate or even think of anything, she was confused and angry, she’d forget what was said minutes before, could not communicate what she was thinking, annoyed by noise and light, and little things like windshield washers and crowded rooms drover her crazy. Her personality had changed too, she no longer ‘got’ jokes or sarcasm, things often went right over her head, it was like her personality had been drained from her.
All the time we took her to Drs who said she is fine (maybe minor concussion they said), and that we should be introducing activities slowly and steadily to strengthen the brain. This was not helping and we had more set-backs.
We were fortunate to find a massage therapist who specialized in concussions, he diagnosed her immediately with having a ‘severe concussion’ (a brain ‘injury’ he kept calling it), She was put on full 100% ‘shut down’, so no TV, no computer, no texting, video games, no stimulation at all, and she was not to go to school.
The next month was hard (she did sneak in a bit of TV and computer time here and there) but for the most part she pretty much did nothing and stayed at home, slept and read periodically (which, if you have to do something that is the best choice - because your brain will turn itself off and you’ll close your eyes and drift when you’ve had enough, unlike TV which, when you’re brain is ready for shut-down, continues to stimulate).
More than 8 weeks since the accident, she returned to school, first 1/2 days, then full.
That long, boring, ‘100% shut-down’ did, I am happy to say, allow her to recover!
She has recovered 100% and is now able to function as best we can tell, at the level she was before. It was difficult to watch your straight A student suffer through this, we had many down times and frustrating moments, but the key to her recovering, I have no doubt, was the 100% shut-down and rest period!
It was explained that sometimes kids need 1 week, sometimes more ‘shut-down’ time to fully recover, but parents, please take note and pass on to everyone you know, that if you suspect your child is going through this, you NEED to find someone who specializes in concussions and you absolutely NEED to have shut-down for your brain to heal and recover (which, unfortunately, was, the opposite of what we were originally told).
Thank goodness she is OK, that is a scare I hope none of you have to go through, hopefully our experience will help others.
Debbie
We are dealing with post concussion symptoms in this house too. My 13 year old was tripped in basketball and landed on her head. Her concussion signs were obvious immediately. She missed more than a month of school and is finally returning to non contact sport. It has been very frustrating because you cannot see the injury or the healing. I am not sure what would have helped us deal with it better… Perhaps an MRI. The wait for that test is more than 7 months in YVR though.
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