Still looking for answers....

My daughter (15) suffered a concussion June 8th. She wants to exercise again, but when she tries her blood pressure goes up, she becomes winded fast, face turns red, and eventually her head pounds. The sports med doc says she's out of shape, the cardiologist says her heart is fine (had stress test), neurologist does not understand why she would want to exercise anyway.

Should she keep working if her head is hurting? Can it make it worse? I think she's trying to ignore the pain and work through it. She is sick of sitting on the couch, I understand that, but I don't know if this is the right thing to do.

She has been an extremely athletic kid all her life, is she going to have to give it up? What is that going to do to her mentally?

My understanding is the recommendation is that the kids be symptom free before a gradual return to exercise. We've been told headache free for a week, then light aerobic, sports specific drils, non contact drills, contact drills, and game play. With each step being a week in length and you go back to the previous step if any symptoms reoccur.

My daughter received a concussion in October and we have yet to be headache free.

My daughter, also 15 and very athletic, has had the same problems with exercise. Her concussion occurred in early August 2009. She was 7 days with no symptoms at one point and was given the go-ahead to run one lap, see how she felt, up it to a lap and a half the next day, and so forth. She decided to run sprints with her basketball class instead and ended up with major backslide into symptoms.

We waited until her resting symptoms had subsided somewhat (like for the majority of a day) and then started with 2 minutes on eliptical. After five days or so she went to 3 minutes and so forth. After several months of this she is now up to 13 1/2 minutes. Our neuro stressed emotional and physical benefits of exercise and said to increase her exercise as she can tolerate it. She has strict orders to stop if she has the slightest sign of discomfort. A gentle yoga class once a week has been great for her as well.

13 minutes on an eliptical still seems like a horrible slap in the face to an athletic kid, but it's been good for her emotionally to see some progress. I don't know...lots of people on here talk about blood pressue problems with tbi. I'm not sure if we are encountering that or not.

best of luck as you work though this issue.

What about walking instead of going fast or pushing it?

Can any of the kids stroll around the block or mall walk with out any problems?

I know it's hard for we jock types, but we have to listen to our bodies: your daughter isn't ready for the type of exercise she's doing.

The doctor who attributed her symptoms to poor conditioning is, frankly, an idiot. Exercise induced headache is a fairly common PCS problem. I have to work out with a heart monitor. If I let my heart rate exceed my PCS comfort zone, my blood pressure spikes and my head feels like it's going to explode. I worked out with my PT to determine my safe zone. Frankly, it's not much compared to my premorbid frenized fitness routine. Still, it's better than nothing.

I'd suggest your daughter work with a professional to determine the type, intensity and duration of exercise she can handle. Zero impact activity done for a couple minutes a few times a day is usually a good start.

Patience

hi
swimming is good but no diving. I have a real battle with exertion HAs or should I say my daily HAs is made worst by exertion turning migraine type, its not like you can push through the pain barrier , the brain an,t a muscle HUH well I have been called a muscle head but its something I don.t take in, oh yeah! thick skinned too so if it makes her brain hurt STOP but that not to say, We cant keep moving that point, were we have to stop back little by little , this whole brain injury thing is like giving an elephant a piggy back through treacle , and frustrating GRERRR slow and to be young must be a double whammy

best wishes