Youth Concussions Deserve Attention

What is a Concussion?

A concussion can be direct or indirect forces to the head. This can be in a car that stops really fast. A concussion may or may not involve a loss of consciousness.  Most concussions do not even appear in CT or MRI scans which mainly focus on determining whether there is internal bleeding.  The recovery time can vary from days to months to even longer.

Concussions can occur in many situations that one may think would not warrant being called a concussion. For example,  concussions can occur from riding in a car that goes from a high speed to stopping abruptly. Even if you are buckled up and feel okay, your head will swing forward due to the speed which will cause your brain to move against your skull possibly causing a concussion that you may not even be aware of.  Sports do not cause it but can be a part of the problem.

Why Should Youth related concussion be paid attention to more?

Usually, when it comes to concussions, most people may think of college athletes or pro athletes because these athletes receive the most media attention. However, there are only 75,000 college level football players compared to three million children between the ages of eight to twelve years old who experience concussions.

Problems arise more so from the fact that there is a lack of good measures to assess injuries in these ages. Usually, symptoms are looked at to assess whether someone has had a concussion but this is ineffective in children and in general. Especially because symptoms may not be present.  It is also believed that you have to be unconscious to have a concussion but that is inaccurate. Only 10% of concussions experience a loss of consciousness.

Interestingly,  it is twenty-six times more likely to get concussed in youth football games as opposed to practices. This is due to the fact that practice is focused on improving skills as opposed to applying the skills in an actual game.

Currently, it is unclear how a lot of these concussions occur in games. We know that half of them are caused by head to head contact but the other half we are uncertain as to the cause.

The Takeaway

It is important to note that although concussions occur in a lot of youth players, these injuries are usually not significant.  Meaning, these concussions are fairly mild, and in most cases are not severe.  In most cases, the child will be fine by the next day or week.  For further help in assessing concussions and ensuring proper treatment for your children please contact the Pathways Neuropsychology team to create a comprehensive plan to move forward.