Could my son have a concussion?
 

Two days ago my son had his head hit on the mat during wrestling practice. The coach that saw it said it was pretty hard, but my son didn't lose consciousness and was only complaining of a headache by the time he got home. Yesterday and today he's pretty much had a constant headache and also said his neck hurts. He took a nap yesterday after practice and went to bed early. Today he skipped practice, came home and did a 1/2 hour of homework and then fell asleep all night except for taking 5 minutes to eat
something. My son has a big wrestling tournament on Saturday, but I'm worried that he could have a concussion. Do these symptoms warrant a visit to the doctor? Thanks for any help!

Mom2Boys,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. I am glad you found this place. Your son has a concussion, plain and simple. It does not take a doctor's exam to diagnose a concussion. His behavior and head aches are enough.

I know how hard a hit to a wrestling mat can be. It is great at preventing skull fractures but not so good at preventing concussions.

Whether he is seen by the doctor is of little consequence compared to making a decision to keep him off the mat for at least 6 weeks. Sorry, no wrestling tournament on Saturday. He needs to be free of head aches for at least a month before he should have even the slightest risk of another impact.

The risk is simple. When the brain is concussed, it loses the ability to control blood pressure within the skull. A second impact before it has regained this ability to regulate blood pressure can result in a uncontrollable rise in ICP (IntraCranialPressure) that can cause the brain to herniate into the space where the brain stem exits thew skull. This can be a fatal situation.

Read about Snow Boarder Kevin Pearce. He is luck to be alive.

Brain damage due to a concussion has no bearing on the intensity of the impact. It is more related to the duration of the impact. The direction of the impact. The previous impacts and sub-concussive impacts are also a big factor.

As a former wrestler, I know that your son has suffered many sub-concussive impacts. It is the nature of the sport. If he played football or soccer, his previous history of sub-concussive impacts will be even greater. A sub-concussive impact is any impact to the brain that does not cause symptoms within the next day or so nor does it cause any struggle to focus the eyes or think straight.

Neck injuries are very common with concussions. A chiropractor or Physical Therapist may be able to help with his neck. Do not let a chiropractor do a twist and pop adjustment on his neck. There are some much gentler treatments that will have less risk of further injury. The NUCCA.org form of chiropractic is worth checking out. Also, leg check with Activator treatments is very gentle.

It will help if he ices his neck, especially his upper neck from behind one ear to behind the other. He should try to sleep with his head and neck in a straight position. If he is a side sleeper, he needs his pillow set so his head does not drop off.

Don't let his coach or trainer try to clear him to wrestle. Even a neurologist does not have a way to determine if his brain can tolerate another impact.

I hope I have not scared you but instead have given you information to use to protect your son. He only has one brain and they do not grow new brain cells. They only grow new axons (the wires between brain cells) and even they grow slowly.

He has along life ahead and needs to be protective of his brain so he can have a full life.

My best to you.

Hi Mark,
Thanks so much for your reply and all of the information. This morning when my son got up, he still had a slight headache, but was, as they say, "bright-eyed and bushy-tailed". He was happy, smiling and clear-headed. My younger son had a concussion from wrestling earlier this year and his symptoms were quite noticeable. He walked and talked very slowly, had trouble concentrating, had headaches and was very sleepy and fatigued. We saw a specialist with him and he was put on heavy restrictions as far as the use of his brain and was allowed no physical activity. My older son does get tired a lot from everything he does and will occasionally nap before bedtime, but it is unusual for him to sleep so heavily and for so long. Being a concerned mother, I don't want to jeopardize his health in any way. He is a high school senior with no plans to wrestle in college, but he will need his brain for the rest of his life. My husband will not let him skip wrestling without a medical reason, so we are going to have the trainer see him today and give him an impact test and compare it to his baseline. When my younger son had his concussion, he failed his impact test and did much worse than his baseline. Both of my sons play soccer and wrestle, so they've most likely had plenty of the sub-concussive incidents you described. I'm praying that our family will make the right decisions with whatever today brings. Thanks again for your kindness in answering me.

Just from my limited knowledge about the hockey world, I understand that a person can pass an impact test but still have a concussion. I'm sure others here can chime in on that topic. I'm in a bit of a rush and need to head out. Hope your son recovers quickly. :)

Hi Mom2boys
 

Welcome to Neuro Talk. This is a good place to find out information. There are alot of people here who have TBI who will be able to help you out a bit more than I can. I do however react as a mother myself. I would have my child checked out, as he is displaying behavior that is not normal for him. Certainly I wouldn't have him in a tournament without medical all clear, as these kinds of injuries can be re-injured and make the symptoms worse.
I suppose I was the kind of mother that even if I were wrong, I would feel better after the appt. Your son could then go to his event without worry and so could you. I do wish you all the best. I hope some others will post to you with more ideas and suggestions. another mother, ginnie

I suffered a concussion when I was nine, and a series of other concussions throughout my life, mostly sport related. Each time it got 'easier' to get concussed ie I didn't need to be hit as hard as other people to get concussion symptoms.

I was always better within hours or days, up until a not particularly violent impact during a soccer game last March lead me into 11 months and counting of basically feeling awful all the time and not being able to do anything (though I am on the way to recovery now), with the added terror about the long term damage I have clearly done to my brain and how it might affect me when I'm older.

Almost everyone in sport minimizes concussions, but every time you have one, you are doing some permanent damage to your brain. A concussion is a injury to the brain, how else could you explain the symptoms? It took me to keep getting hit until I got post concussion syndrome to even find out that it existed - your sons are lucky that you have found out about it while they are still young.

Best wishes to you all.

Another thing I'd be cautious about is, even if he seems to be recovering quickly, he may need to return to activity gradually so he doesn't reinjure himself. Think of it as though he had sprained his ankle. He might be able to walk again after a few days but wouldn't want to run on it again without some additional time and strengthening exercise.

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts and personal experiences. My son saw the athletic trainer this afternoon and failed the impact test. Based on the impact test and his reported symptoms, he was diagnosed with a concussion and told not to wrestle tomorrow. It is really sad that he can't compete in his last tournament as a senior, but it's nothing compared to how sad it would be to see him sustain further injury to his brain. My husband has him at the doctor's office right now. I made him go so he could hear first hand why it's not safe for our son to wrestle. (My husband is "old school" and thinks things should work the way they did back when he wrestled and head injuries were blown off as no big deal.) I had a concussion in high school from hitting my head on the diving board and it was a miserable time recovering. Thanks again for all the help! :grouphug:

Good for you for following your mama instincts and getting him checked out!! It is a bummer that he'll miss this big event, but you're absolutely right about the rest of his life being more important than this one event.

Mom2Boys,

The ImPACT test is only valuable at determining if the athlete has the coordination skills to not create a risk to himself and others. There is an investigation into the use of the ImPACT test and its improper use. The creators of the ImPACT test, Micky Collins, Ph.D. et.al. have even stated emphatically that the ImPACT test has no value and is not to be used to determine the brain's tolerance of further concussions.

Personally, I would not be surprised if the ImPACT Test Corporation gets sued into oblivion.

There is a thread on NT with an article about the controversy brewing about the ImPACT test.
Here is a link to the article. http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012...=BrainLine.org


Your sons and husband are all at risk of early onset of dementia as young as their 40's. All athletes who have long histories of sports that cause concussions and more importantly sub-concussive impact risk the same thing.

My Mild Cognitive Impairment started manifesting at 41 when I suffered a 4th mild concussion. Prior to that, I had suffered 10 extremely mild concussions that very few trainers would even consider to be concussions at all and one severe concussion with slurred speech for 4 days. Now, at 57, I am permanently disabled and only able to drive on my best days.

Your sons should accept their current condition as indicative of the start of a decreasing condition.

I hope they can avoid what happened to me and many other athletes.

My best to you all.

Mark, thanks so much for the information and for sharing your personal experience. The article on the ImPACT test is interesting. In our school district, the athletic trainers use it as a screening tool combined with a report of symptoms. When my youngest had his concussion a month ago, we took him to a specialist that was very thorough and cautious. With my oldest, we took him to his regular doctor since the specialist wasn't available until next week. The regular doctor seemed to take the same approach as the specialist and even called today to see how my son was doing. Thankfully, both of my boys have agreed to not play soccer this spring, so they won't be heading any soccer balls. My oldest son is graduating and has no plans to continue with soccer or wrestling in college. My youngest son has 2 more years of high school and has his heart set on playing soccer in the fall and wrestling in the winter. After having a concussion this year, I think he will be more cautious and aware of head injuries, but that still cannot prevent them.

Thanks again to everyone for the insight and well wishes! Your background information makes me realize how serious and lasting a head injury can be and I wish all of you the best.

Mom2Boys,

Your son who wants to play soccer next year can make a decision to not head the ball. There was research done back in the 1970's when I was in school that showed an average 9 point decrease in measured IQ for athletes who headed the ball in soccer. This did not even consider those soccer players who had suffered head to head concussions. A 9 point decrease in concussion is equal to 9%. That can make quite a difference in academic and career pursuits.

The other issue to consider is the personality changes and how that impacts career and contacts with authority. As my mom has said, After my bad concussion, I was not her sweet little boy anymore. When I finally heard that comment as an adult, I realized why I lost almost all of my friends and struggled to maintain friendships during my school years.

There have been multiple studies that show a high percentage (60% or more) of inmates show evidence of mTBI. The theory is this is a causative factor leading to the incarceration for many.

The local concussion specialist who treats many of the school teams would like to see heading the ball outlawed for minors and changes in the rules of the various sports to protect the heads of all minors. The judgement skills of minors leaves them at great risk of not reporting their concussions and at greater risk of long term consequences due to the immature status of their brains.

In some situations, the repeated concussions and sub-concussive impacts has been shown to interrupt the maturing of judgement skills to an adult level leaving the person with poor judgement skills as an adult. When the brain is busy trying to cope and recover from such trauma, e maturing and judgement skills that only develop during adolescence and up to the early 20's get suppressed and may never develop completely if at all.

I know a number of mTBI/PCS people who were injured during their early teens who, as adults, have the limited judgement skills comparable to a 12 or 13 year old. One has learned to rely on the assistance of others for many decisions after struggling to make sound decisions on his own. Another is riding a roller coaster through life. They have enough intelligence to be successful but just have poor decision making skills.

I have a few horror stories I could also relate but I think I have already said enough.

Regarding preventing head injuries, Ever since my problems at 15 years old, I have limited my risk in sports. This has not prevented the odd concussion by hitting my head on an overhead beam or other impacts that happened during non-risk activities. My position is to avoid the risky activities because you can't avoid those others and need to save any tolerance for those unexpected impacts. My neurologist believes there is a limit to how many impacts the brain can tolerate cumulatively. He was amazed at my high functioning compared to the serious dysfunction he could observe during functional brain imaging.

My best to you.