[sifonearth]

my son sustained a head injury while wrestling with his friends over the weekend. He's not even sure what exactly happened, just that he was wrestling one kid and another threw himself on top of them, somehow kicking him in the head hard enough to leave a sneaker-print made in abrasions on the right side of his forehead.
I've taken him to the pediatrician, who sent him to have a CT scan. She notified me after reviewing the scan that he is "fine".

I am very worried about him, though, because today is the fifth day he's had a constant headache. He threw up the day after the injury, but only once and the ped thinks that he may have a virus as well. He has also had the green-apple quicksteps for days, but I don't know if that can be associated with the concussion? It was the stomach issues that made her think he's sick as well.
I am wondering how long he can have these headaches, and exactly what the CT scan shows, because he seems far from "fine" to me. I would appreciate any input, and also advice on how to help him? I have given him Tylenol 500 but it doesn't seem to do much for him. He does seem to get some comfort from an ice pack.

[MomandSon]

Hello and sorry to hear about your son. I can relate because my son has been suffering for over three months with headaches from a soccer related concussion. In addition he has blurred vision.

There are people here that know a lot about concussions, but I can give you some help based on my child's experience. If I were you I would treat it like he has a concussion where he has the headaches. I would have him rest and not play any sports or activities. It can't hurt to do this and it will only help him in his recovery.

In addition, I would keep him out of school because reading might be too much for him to handle. My son was out of school for two months and had a tutor come to the house. I'm not saying that this will be the same case for your child, as everyone recovers differently. I just know that kids who have concussions have a hard time with school work, bright lights, and noise and the school environment might be tough for him to handle right away.

Our school has been so supportive with our son so it's important to communicate what is going on. My son's symptoms got worse before they got better in the first few weeks. I feel like he started improving at month three.

It's important in the beginning to have him rest. Our doctor didn't diagnose my son with a concussion right away which was a mistake and told him he could play sports. He ended up hitting his head 5 days later which is why I think he's having such a hard time. So taking the side of caution, I believe is always best.



I hope your son feels better soon and would love to hear of how he progresses.

[MomandSon]

I wanted to add one more thing about headache relief. My son also found that a cold facecloth gave him a little relief like your son. Tylenol and Advil did not work either for my son. I think because the concussion headaches are so different from traditional headaches it's a tough thing to find much relief.

The doctor eventually put him on amitriptyline for a month but found no relief. Really at the end of the day it was resting in a darkened room with a cold face cloth. It did not take the pain away but it was the only thing that calmed him. I would also rub his back too. As a mother, it's so tough to see your child in pain and we want to do anything to help them!

[Mark in Idaho]

sifonearth,

Welcome to NeuroTalk.

MomandSon had some good comments. Rest and ice are about all you can do at this time. Try some ice on his neck up high. Often, the impact messes up the upper neck and that causes the head aches. If he is tender to pressure at the boney parts behind his ears, he has an upper neck injury too. Ice it regularly.

The CT is just to rule out a brain bleed. They are a waste of money if there are not neurological symptoms present but docs do them to reassure moms.

Tylenol and aspirin combined can provide very good head ache relief. If he is an average size 13 year old (100 pounds or more) he can probably take 650 mgs of Tylenol and 650 mgs of aspirin at the same time. ( 2 x 325 mgs) or even 1 1/2 500 mgs Tylenol and aspirin. He should take a break from the Tylenol every few days if he is taking over 2500 mgs per day of Tylenol. It can be rough on the liver at long term higher doses. I doubt he will get near such a high dose.

You need to have a good strong talk with him about future head impacts. At his age up to reaching 20 or so, his brain will likely be very sensitive to impacts after this concussion. He can jeopardize his academics with a second concussion.

Let us know how else we can help. As MomandSon said, there is lots of good help here.

My best to you.

[EsthersDoll]

Aspirin, Tylenol and ibuprofen can cause rebound headaches, so try not to use them on an ongoing basis for too long.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/reb...section=causes

Gently stretching the neck might help any tightness in that area caused by stress which can cause some pretty wicked tension headaches.

[sifonearth]

Thank you for responding so quickly! I am sorry to hear about your son, you must have been very frustrated with the doctor after he hit his head a second time. At the very least, it couldn't have helped. I know doctors are just human like the rest of us, but as parents we depend on them to make the right call.

I have kept my son out of school all week. I was thinking of trying to send him back on Monday, depending on how the weekend goes. As bad as it was for him this week, though, I couldn't imagine that he would have been able to function - he tends to get stressed with all the things you mentioned about the school environment on a normal day, so I figured it would be way too much for him now. He's also been resting quite a bit. Most of the time it's not hard to make him do that because he's been feeling so bad. Today he seems to be a bit perkier, he says it doesn't hurt quite as much as it has been. I'm hoping this is a good sign!

Thank you so much for sharing your experience, and for the advice. I am so sorry for what he's going through. As a mom, I can relate to how hard it is - I hope he recovers soon!

Originally Posted by MomandSon

Hello and sorry to hear about your son. I can relate because my son has been suffering for over three months with headaches from a soccer related concussion. In addition he has blurred vision.

There are people here that know a lot about concussions, but I can give you some help based on my child's experience. If I were you I would treat it like he has a concussion where he has the headaches. I would have him rest and not play any sports or activities. It can't hurt to do this and it will only help him in his recovery.

In addition, I would keep him out of school because reading might be too much for him to handle. My son was out of school for two months and had a tutor come to the house. I'm not saying that this will be the same case for your child, as everyone recovers differently. I just know that kids who have concussions have a hard time with school work, bright lights, and noise and the school environment might be tough for him to handle right away.

Our school has been so supportive with our son so it's important to communicate what is going on. My son's symptoms got worse before they got better in the first few weeks. I feel like he started improving at month three.

It's important in the beginning to have him rest. Our doctor didn't diagnose my son with a concussion right away which was a mistake and told him he could play sports. He ended up hitting his head 5 days later which is why I think he's having such a hard time. So taking the side of caution, I believe is always best.



I hope your son feels better soon and would love to hear of how he progresses.

[sifonearth]

Mark,

Thank you for the input. I appreciate the explanation for the CT scan - I really wanted to know what they were looking for and couldn't seem to get a straight answer. It can be very frustrating trying to figure out what is necessary and what is pointless.

I have already told him how important it is for him to be more careful. I want him to be healthy and active, and I don't want him to be afraid, but even so
we had a discussion how the circumstances that led to his injury could have been avoided. It was weird, too, because he's not the type of kid that would usually wrestle with other kids for fun. I guess it was a case of him going along with the crowd. I am extremely concerned about long-term or future damage because unfortunately this is not the first time he's taken a foot to the face. As you advised, I will have a discussion about future head impacts.

I am also very grateful for the advice on the Tylenol and the possible neck injury. He actually does have a stiff neck and the pediatrician said it was almost like whiplash, probably from the initial impact.

I have been frugal with the Tylenol, too, since it doesn't seem to do much for him. I have been giving him 2 500mg pills at a time (he is actually larger than the average 13 year old, I think, at 5'6" and 150 lbs) but only twice a day. Yesterday we tried Advil instead, 400mg at a time and that seemed to give him a little more relief than the Tylenol, but again it was only once in late morning and once before bed.

Again, thank you thank you for everything! When I wrote the initial post, I was sitting up late at night, feeling very lost and worried. It is nice to have people to talk to that have been through this.

Sif

Originally Posted by Mark in Idaho

sifonearth,

Welcome to NeuroTalk.

MomandSon had some good comments. Rest and ice are about all you can do at this time. Try some ice on his neck up high. Often, the impact messes up the upper neck and that causes the head aches. If he is tender to pressure at the boney parts behind his ears, he has an upper neck injury too. Ice it regularly.

The CT is just to rule out a brain bleed. They are a waste of money if there are not neurological symptoms present but docs do them to reassure moms.

Tylenol and aspirin combined can provide very good head ache relief. If he is an average size 13 year old (100 pounds or more) he can probably take 650 mgs of Tylenol and 650 mgs of aspirin at the same time. ( 2 x 325 mgs) or even 1 1/2 500 mgs Tylenol and aspirin. He should take a break from the Tylenol every few days if he is taking over 2500 mgs per day of Tylenol. It can be rough on the liver at long term higher doses. I doubt he will get near such a high dose.

You need to have a good strong talk with him about future head impacts. At his age up to reaching 20 or so, his brain will likely be very sensitive to impacts after this concussion. He can jeopardize his academics with a second concussion.

Let us know how else we can help. As MomandSon said, there is lots of good help here.

My best to you.

[camyam73]

I personally found that tylenol did very little, and that ibuprophen seemed to do the trick, but it had to be taken regularly to really see an effect. I do agree though that they can cause rebound headaches, so you really need to be careful!

Good luck!

[Mark in Idaho]

I encourage you to try the Tylenol/aspirin combination. He can take full doses of each. When he has those break through head aches, give the combination a try. My doctor told me how to combine the two to get better relief.

My best to you both.

[EsthersDoll]

I've also had more results personally with ibuprofen than with tylenol. Everyone's going to react a little differently. It might be best to try a little of this and see what happens and then try a little of that until you find what works best for him.

I'm glad you kept him out of school, that's probably helped him a great deal!

Much luck!!