I was hoping to hear from anyone who's dealt with a concussion in a very young child (under 7 or so) -- whether there were long-term changes, months or years later.

My four-year-old daughter had a frontal lobe concussion in mid-February. She seemed to be recovering well at first -- there were some minor, immediate behavioral changes (sleep disturbances, moodiness), but we assumed these would subside as she recovered. About a month after the injury, she suddenly began showing more unnerving behavioral changes -- odd/inappropriate emotional responses (such as giggling uncontrollably in response to things that previously would have upset her, which then spirals into a period of increasingly hyper behavior), increasing inability to focus during conversation, loss of attention span, etc. The pediatric neurologist said these types of behaviors are common after frontal-lobe injuries but suggested that they usually fade within a month or two after the injury.

But these things seem to be getting worse rather than better. And I've been obsessively researching in an effort to educate myself on what to expect, and the research I've seen is so frightening. I thought the conventional wisdom was that children recover better from brain injuries than adults, because their brains are still developing. But I guess now the idea is that this means the damage they sustain is actually much worse. Some of the articles indicate that frontal-lobe concussions in very young children (under 7 or so) can actually can prevent the affected areas of the brain from ever developing. So a child may seem to have recovered, but then (as years pass) falls further and further behind socially, emotionally, and cognitively. Or learning deficits and behavioral problems may appear years later.

We're working on getting our daughter evaluated by a neuropsych to see whether there are any sort of therapies that might be helpful for her. But in the meantime, I am sort of desperately trying to find out what the outcomes have been for other people in similar situations. I know every injury is different, and everyone recovers differently. But it would still be helpful to hear from other people who've dealt with this kind of thing.

Thank you.

I am researching this because I had a concussion at 5 or 6 years old. My chiropractor suspects that it's an old head trauma (I'm 61) that caused multiple back and spinal alignment problems. There are two alternative areas I am currently using - chiropractic and homeopathic treatments and will most likely see my MD for a possible scan to see if there is damage to the prefrontal area. Both could be complementary to anything that your MD prescribes.

Dear Headup,

Thank you so much for your response. Could I ask whether you believe your concussion caused any behavioral changes or other difficulties (such as issues in school), either short-term or long-term?

I hope you have success with the treatments you're getting now. We're seeing a couple of specialists now, and I will ask whether they recommend any alternative treatments for our daughter.

Thank you again

I believe so, yes - but that's just my undiagnosed opinion. It's actually a relief to think that some of my learning problems - mostly memory, and social behavior and lack of discriminating thinking - might have been caused by a concussion, rather than feeling alienated because I was "weird". Your daughter can probably be monitored by you and her doctors closely enough to provide her with ways to manage the changes through therapies and coping tools that didn't exist when I was little.

My son suffered a head injury at the age of 4yrs3mos which resulted in him losing consciousness for less than a few minutes and three stitches on his forehead. I monitored him for a concussion but he seemed fine at the time.

I was never given any information at the hospital as to what could be expected from an injury such as this. My son began displaying aggressive behavior and as time went on, all the common symptoms of ADHD which I have now learned are the same symptoms displayed by people that have suffered injury to their frontal cortex. He now (at age 8 and a half) also has a very high anxiety level and symptoms of depression. At this point I don't know whether the behavior/symptoms are from the injury or if he just has ADHD and/or some other disorder (anxiety, depression etc) as I am still in the process of getting a diagnosis for him. It is very frustrating for both him and I.

He is starting a form of biofeedback treatment this week that I am hopeful will be helpful. I'll repost at a later time as an update.

Good luck.

Hello

just wanted to leave the link to our forum for post concussion syndrome and TBI
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum92.html

there is a lot of information there

Hello -- thank you so much for your post. I somehow missed all the posts after June of last year, and only saw this now. How have things turned out for your son? We had a similar experience in that no one at the hospital gave us any information about long-term effects. It was also really surprising to me how many doctors seem to be unaware of the more recent research about concussions in children -- how they need to be taken more seriously, and how important it is to monitor children afterwards.

I really, really hope that things are going well for you and your son.

My son fell from the about 3 feet off the ground and hit his forehead on the fireplace bricks about 1 foot off the ground as he was falling at the age of 3. Had to have his head glued and looked like Frankenstein with both eyes swollen shut and whole face black and blue. Doctors said at the time that he was "fine". Child went from being extremely bright and willing to learn everything to no attention span, social issues, emotional issues, and now learning problems with no motivation. When he didn't start puberty I took him to endo and he has hypopituitarism from the fall and has to be on growth hormone and testosterone so far. Obviously did enough damage that is damaged his pituitary gland and I feel he has brain damage that has gone undiagnosed. He is failing the 8th grade (extremely bright child) and has NO motivation in any area other than building things. He can't focus and is immature in all areas. He doesn't get social cues, and is depressed and has been suicidal. He has no self esteem and gets picked on regularly. This may be your child's future. I am at a loss as to what kind of doctor to take him to for the possible brain injury diagnosis and how do they determine this? Any thoughts?

Hello deniserl and welcome to NeuroTalk, but I'm so sorry for the reason that brought you here.

I wish I had the answers that you need but sadly I do not. May I suggest that you post over in the Traumatic Brain Injury Forum as well as here? That forum deals mostly with adult brain injuries and I'm aware that adult and children's treatments are very different, but it's worth a try.

Here's the link to that forum: http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum92.html

I hope some-one can give you the answers that you seek.

Lillia- my then 5 year old son had a TBI with concussion. He had a very long recovery. The symptoms you describe with your daughter are exactly what we saw with our son. He was very emotional and often became giddy, out-of -control with laughter and running around. He was seen by our concussion clinic and under their care for more than 2 years. During that time, his symptoms slowly improved but recurred with any bump to the head. He wore a protected helmet and had to go to school with an aid so he would not get bumped or hit his head-no running, jumping etc... until symptoms were completely gone. It's hard to keep a boy down! The concussion clinic recommended that he could not hit his head at all at the risk of dying from second concussion while the first is not healed. Now, no concussion-prone activities for the rest of his life-quite a struggle to way the risk of activities and say no to soccer and basketball.
He is now 10, doing great and tested fine last year for any cognitive, executive function, etc...He does seem unorganized, has difficulty attending at times but more typical "boy" than clinical. A few strategies between home and school was all it took to get him on the ball.
However, watch her growth. My son's growth slowed tremendously following the head injury. At age 9, he was finally tested and diagnosed with pituitary disfunction-the head injury damaged his pituitary gland-he does not produce enough growth hormone or melatonin. We now give him shots every night and melatonin.