It’s important to recognize the signs of concussion and to take prompt action when one occurs. That’s because concussions, like any traumatic brain injury, affect how the brain functions. When the brain is jostled, as it is during a head injury, causing a concussion, a person is at risk of serious health issues, including disability and even death.
What Is a Concussion?
A concussion is a mild type of traumatic brain injury, or what’s commonly known as a TBI. This type of brain injury is caused by a movement that impacts the head, including a bump or jolt to the head or a hit to the body that causes the head to rapidly move back and forth. This impact causes the brain to bounce around in the skull, creating chemical changes in – and sometimes damage to – the brain cells.
While concussions can occur in any setting, they are particularly common in contact sports, where players routinely make bodily contact with each other while moving quickly. While you may think of concussions as most common in football, they also occur frequently in sports such as soccer, hockey, cheerleading, as well as with severe falls.
When a concussion occurs, it temporarily weakens the brain’s ability to function properly. This causes the symptoms you may associate with concussions—the bumbling, stumbling confusion athletes on TV often demonstrate. These symptoms may last for only minutes or hours, but in some cases, they can linger for weeks or even longer, particularly in those who have had multiple concussions.
The Signs of a Concussion
If you have a child or teen active in sports, you may wonder how to tell if he or she has a concussion.
In some cases, you may see online assessments that gauge whether your child may have a concussion. It’s important to note, though, that there’s no concussion test that can provide a diagnosis at home.
While there’s no conclusive type of at-home concussion test, parents and coaches still play an important role in noticing a problem. It’s important to keep an eye out for these specific symptoms:
- Balance issues
- Confusion
- Difficulty concentrating or remembering
- Dizziness
- Double or blurry vision
- Headache
- Loss of taste or smell
- Nausea or vomiting
- Ringing in the ears
- Sensitivity to light or sound
Someone who has suffered a head injury may not always be aware of the symptoms or able to self-report them. Because of that, concussion symptoms fall into two broad categories—symptoms your child can tell you about and symptoms that can be observed.
These signs don’t always emerge immediately following a head injury, so it’s important to be mindful of them even hours or days after the initial impact.
When to Seek Care for a Concussion
Even a mild traumatic brain injury can cause significant effects, so it is wise to be cautious when dealing with a head injury. If any concussion symptoms (as noted above) occur after a hit to the head, it’s important to seek medical attention.
A concussion specialist can evaluate your child and recommend a treatment plan, if needed, to restore full health. As part of this medical visit, the doctor will conduct a physical exam, check your child’s reaction time and perform a concussion test to assess brain function.
In many cases, athletes at the high school level and beyond—and sometimes even younger—have what’s known as a baseline concussion test performed at the beginning of a new sports season. A baseline test establishes what’s normal for an individual athlete. Afterward, when a concussion is suspected, an athlete’s concussion test results can be compared with his or her baseline test.
If your child is diagnosed with a concussion, your health care provider will recommend a specific treatment plan that allows the brain to heal. For minor concussions, treatment typically calls for an intense period of rest, at least in the first days following the head injury. This may include avoiding activities that require challenging the brain to remember or concentrate too much.
Over time and as symptoms lessen, your child will gradually be allowed to resume activities. Recovery typically takes between a week and 10 days, but the amount of time can vary depending on the severity of the concussion and other factors. Occasionally patients can have symptoms that linger for months necessitating close follow-up by a concussion specialist.
During your child’s recovery, watch for symptoms that the concussion has worsened and be sure to seek immediate medical attention for seizures, an inability to wake up, a progressively worsening headache, slurred speech or a loss of consciousness.
