MusicM,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. I can guarantee you that this is not her first concussion if she has been playing soccer for any length of time. The others just cleared that day. Plus, she has suffered an untold number of sub-concussive impacts heading the ball.

Hold fast to keeping her off the field. She should not be near a soccer field until she is at least 2 weeks without any symptoms, mild head aches included. It would be better for her to slowly start physical activity after 2 weeks of no head aches. If running or walking causes a return of head aches, she should stop. The next time, she should reduce her effort level by 20% until she can sustain that activity level without getting a head ache.

Once she returns to soccer, if she does, she should not head the ball the rest of the season. It is not worth the risk.

The statistics of long term consequences from heading the ball in soccer are not good. Pile that on top of her fall and she needs to be very cautious.

btw, The ER doc is clueless. You can not diagnose a concussion as mild to moderate like he did. Her amnesia, nausea, and confusion indicate at least a moderate level of injury. I would call it more severe than moderate. Her ongoing symptoms support a more severe injury. Many concussions take hours to manifest symptoms. I bet a computerized neurocognitive assessment like ImPACT would show a serious deficiency. Does her soccer team have a baseline from preseason ?

Missing some school will be minor compared to the delay in recovery a premature return to school can cause. The cognitive struggles can be a big challenge. It can be hard to recover from a few bad grades. Believe me. I lived through this scenario at 15-16 and again as a college freshman. My grades dropped by a full grade point.

Please stand strong. It is more than this season at stake. It is her future.

My best to you both.