Mom2PCS,

Urgent care gave you questionable/controversial advice. "Followed the instructions given by Urgent Care to the letter including isolation in dark bedroom, no electronics at all, no schoolwork, no physical activity, no nothing but eating frequent meals and snacks that focused on whole grains, drinking lots of water daily, and sleeping as much as he could stand. We did take him to our chiropractor to get adjustments during this time period."

Many believe that there is a need to have a moderate level of stimulation to enhance brain blood flow. Short sessions of mild stimulation with rest between sessions is considered best. Night time sleep to try to maintain a normal schedule. Daytime sleep as fatigue suggest. The concept is moderated stimulation to avoid causing fatigue/over stimulation.

A slow return to more activity and stimulation is considered the best way to return to normal function. His swim meets would have been better if he was only at the pool during his races and warm up. Return to normal activities should be done in steps. Many use 2 weeks as the step interval.

At this point, he may need to use this stepped process to return to activities. It is important for him to learn to recognize when he is overloading. Needing to reread a line of text, struggling to focus, tired eyes, and any sense that thing are not right but you were OK just minutes before means he should take a break. Pushing through is counter to recovery.

Regarding chiro. Twist the head and pop the neck is too aggressive for many subtle upper neck injuries. His head aches may be caused by upper neck issues. More gentle techniques are usually more beneficial. It is important to work to minimize upper neck inflammation. Icing, disciplined neck and head posture, especially when sleeping or resting is important. It takes weeks for the neck to heal.

My brain has hit its limit. More later.

My best to you.