[Nancy F]

My son was just diagnosed with post concussion syndrome from a wrestling head injury on his high school team. I am frightened and scared for him. He has terrible dizziness when he moves as his most frequent complaint. There seems to be no plan of care. Just it may be 3 months or so and they send you home. He is missing school etc. He is 10 days post injury and seems worse. I have a terrible feeling about this. Is there any supportive community out there for us. I am a Critical Care Nurse and am baffled!

[yannimac]

My symptoms got worse for about a week or 2 after I had a concussion. Then they started going away gradually. It may take even longer than 3 months for him to get better depending on the severity of the concussion. Research shows that the majority of people make a complete recovery in 3 - 6 months. I would make sure he gets plenty of rest and stays away from stressful activities and I would definitely not let him wrestle or play contact sports any time soon. There is not a whole lot you can do, except just wait for it to heal. If he hasnt had a CT scan or an MRI, I would get one and see a neurologist, just to make sure that there is no visible damage to the brain. I have been through 2 concussions and I can tell you its not fun, but the vast majority of people heal completely. It just takes time. This page has some good links on it for PCS info ->
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_concussion_syndrome

[Nancy F]

Thanks for your reply. Your experience with this syndrome, allows you to be very helpful to others. I am so sorry for your struggles and hope you can regain your health back to exercise as you would like it to be without limits. So many people hate to exercise and struggle with motivation and all you want to do is get back to it and are limited. I am aware my son is going to run into some self esteem issues and depression because he will also be limited in his activity for awhile. I will try to get him help for that. The other big problem with this PCS is the lack of support because there is nothing that can be done but wait until symptoms go away. I think that waiting time has a domino effect of frustration turning to depression etc. because of lack of support. Hang in there and we will try to do the same.