Concussions with Youth Sports
While playing hockey, my son took himself out of the game. This is very unusual as he loves to play, and in the recent years has almost lived to play. When the period ended they resurfaced the ICE for the next period. The teams head into the locker room, I recall that he had a headache before the game so I tossed the coach some aspirin to give him while in the locker room.
When the team comes back out, my son does not. The goalie, forwards, defense men and coaches... I rescan the ice to see if I unbelievably missed him, I count the players and we are certainly one player short, but also one coach short. The Goalie coach comes out and yells up to me, that my son is in the rest room possibly getting sick!?!?
He is old enough that he can be left alone, but not old enough that I want to leave him alone in the condition at this moment. It is at this point that the reality of the violence that youth sports really has on our children. I start to replay in my mind the first game of the day, as this was the second that he removed himself from. I remember most every hit, both given and received, none of them stand out as anything too serious.
I head down to the locker room and find him in the rest room he has not gotten sick, but looks quite green. I ask some questions, when did this start. He says he was hit in the first game and had gotten a slight head ache in between games, but about 30 minutes after lunch. I knew very little at this point in time, as to what symptoms a concussion would have.
I did know that this could be serious, ESPN had an outside the lines episode
and it was very apparent as to what could happen. I however did not know the full list of symptoms so I became worried. After watching this, and before my son's episode we decided it was overdue time to update his helmet.
We had him checked out by the on site medical person, he showed no other signs of a concussion. While talking to her, he had to leave to vomit. I am not sure is she caught that or not, but I certainly did. She did not clear nor block him from playing any further. And immediately after vomiting he felt better and went and sat on the bench with only a helmet on to encourage his team.
We had him checked out by our Doctor on Monday and he showed no signs, but the doctor says that he may have had a slight concussion. He recommended no contact for a week.
What I have learned from this is that basic symptoms of a concussion can be subtle and may not appear immediately.
The two most common concussion symptoms are confusion and amnesia and my son did not demonstrate either of these.
Mayo Clinic reports that the amnesia, which may or may not be preceded by a loss of consciousness, almost always involves the loss of memory of the impact that caused the concussion.
Other immediate signs and symptoms of a concussion may include:
* Headache
* Dizziness
* Ringing in the ears
* Nausea or vomiting
* Slurred speech
Some symptoms of concussions don't appear until hours or days later. They include:
* Mood and cognitive disturbances
* Sensitivity to light and noise
* Sleep disturbances
Head trauma is very common in young children. But concussions can be difficult to recognize in infants and toddlers because they can't readily communicate how they feel. Nonverbal clues of a concussion may include:
* Listlessness, tiring easily
* Irritability, crankiness
* Change in eating or sleeping patterns
* Lack of interest in favorite toys
* Loss of balance, unsteady walking
What was worrisome to me is the second impact syndrome, such as the person named MAX in the ESPN video.
This is my oldest son, I consider what happend a lucky warning for our family, we have younger son, that is much more physical then the older one at equivalent age.
I hope that this helps you and you find out some information that will allow you to get proper medical attention, and proper safty equipment, including mouth guard.
When the team comes back out, my son does not. The goalie, forwards, defense men and coaches... I rescan the ice to see if I unbelievably missed him, I count the players and we are certainly one player short, but also one coach short. The Goalie coach comes out and yells up to me, that my son is in the rest room possibly getting sick!?!?
He is old enough that he can be left alone, but not old enough that I want to leave him alone in the condition at this moment. It is at this point that the reality of the violence that youth sports really has on our children. I start to replay in my mind the first game of the day, as this was the second that he removed himself from. I remember most every hit, both given and received, none of them stand out as anything too serious.
I head down to the locker room and find him in the rest room he has not gotten sick, but looks quite green. I ask some questions, when did this start. He says he was hit in the first game and had gotten a slight head ache in between games, but about 30 minutes after lunch. I knew very little at this point in time, as to what symptoms a concussion would have.
I did know that this could be serious, ESPN had an outside the lines episode
and it was very apparent as to what could happen. I however did not know the full list of symptoms so I became worried. After watching this, and before my son's episode we decided it was overdue time to update his helmet.
We had him checked out by the on site medical person, he showed no other signs of a concussion. While talking to her, he had to leave to vomit. I am not sure is she caught that or not, but I certainly did. She did not clear nor block him from playing any further. And immediately after vomiting he felt better and went and sat on the bench with only a helmet on to encourage his team.
We had him checked out by our Doctor on Monday and he showed no signs, but the doctor says that he may have had a slight concussion. He recommended no contact for a week.
What I have learned from this is that basic symptoms of a concussion can be subtle and may not appear immediately.
The two most common concussion symptoms are confusion and amnesia and my son did not demonstrate either of these.
Mayo Clinic reports that the amnesia, which may or may not be preceded by a loss of consciousness, almost always involves the loss of memory of the impact that caused the concussion.
Other immediate signs and symptoms of a concussion may include:
* Headache
* Dizziness
* Ringing in the ears
* Nausea or vomiting
* Slurred speech
Some symptoms of concussions don't appear until hours or days later. They include:
* Mood and cognitive disturbances
* Sensitivity to light and noise
* Sleep disturbances
Head trauma is very common in young children. But concussions can be difficult to recognize in infants and toddlers because they can't readily communicate how they feel. Nonverbal clues of a concussion may include:
* Listlessness, tiring easily
* Irritability, crankiness
* Change in eating or sleeping patterns
* Lack of interest in favorite toys
* Loss of balance, unsteady walking
What was worrisome to me is the second impact syndrome, such as the person named MAX in the ESPN video.
This is my oldest son, I consider what happend a lucky warning for our family, we have younger son, that is much more physical then the older one at equivalent age.
I hope that this helps you and you find out some information that will allow you to get proper medical attention, and proper safty equipment, including mouth guard.
