Concussions
 

My son just recently suffered his second concussion in three months from playing college football. Needless to say he is now out for at least the rest of this season, if not for good. Does anybody have any advice to give concerning this. My son is depressed about the whole situation and has it in his mind that he is going to play next year. I want him to quit playing, but he is having nothing to do with it.

Football and Concussions
 

Hello and welcome here. This is a very good place.

It's really hard when a young adult son or daughter gets a head injury.

I have a 19 yr old son and 17 yr old daughter and reasoning with them is sometimes impossible. They are, after all, young adults and have their own ideas and own lives. That said, I know how worried you must feel.

The PBS documentary about concussions just came out last week. Maybe you could watch this with your son to strike up a conversation about football etc.

However, he should not be looking at TV, screens, and the like. he does need brain rest.

On Facebook, I just noticed there is a forum starting up for caregivers of PCS people. Here is a link.

Post Concussion Syndrome (P.C.S & P.P.C.S) Awareness Worldwide or you can find it on facebook and David Bottomly moderates it.

All for now

poetrymom

Bself,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. I am sorry to hear you and your son are going through this.

There are some important facts you both need to understand. If your son is playing at the college level, it indicates he has played long at hard prior to college. This means he has suffered many concussions and an untold number of sub-concussive impacts. Sub-concussive impacts are often worse than concussions since the player does not take any time off the playing or practice field. His determination to play again suggests he has likely hid prior concussions or dingers.

This all means his brain and future are at risk. Watch Head Games and do some research about sub-concussive impacts. Kevin Guskiewicz of UNC-Chapel Hill has done great research. Also, check out the Sports Legacy Institute. They have great information.

Your son's school needs to be very conservative with your son's future. I bet they cleared him to return to play after doing a Computerized Neurocognitive Test like ImPACT. The ImPACT protocol is dangerous in my opinion. It is best to be used to pull a player from the field but not good for sound Return to Play decisions. It is not a good indicator of the brain's tolerance for future impacts. Even the ImPACT designers and researchers agree with this fact.

Here in Boise State Bronco football country, concussions are regularly in the news. We even have a past player who had to leave the game due to concussions who is working with a local neurology department to get the message out about concussions.

I know you have a tough road ahead. Please keep in touch.

My best to you both.