Mark - thanks again for your compassion and sound advice. We'll continue to keep a close eye on things.

I'll continue to update this thread as things progress in the hope that it has future use for a parent going through something similar.

If ear plugs help, he can get custom 'musicians' earplugs made that fit well and have a good color to be not so obvious. Check with a hearing aid clinic.

One month update:

- School is manageable without ear plugs now. He reports the occasional moment where he feels everything is in fast motion and he's unable to focus. He still stays in at recess and usually builds card houses with a friend or two who stays in with him. His weekly spelling test scores show no difference from pre-injury.

- He still reports lingering nausea, that has lessened from the early weeks, occasionally vanishes, but still persists. Motion - even mere walking or riding in car will heighten it.

Even if school is manageable without ear plugs, it would be best if he used them until he has no need in the slightest for them. The occasional overload (things speeding up) means his brain is still working harder than it should.

It is worthwhile for him to ask his friends and teachers how his speaking sounds when things speed up. This can be a sign of continuing problems. The brain can slow down and make it appear than his environment is speeding up. When this happens, his speaking will likely become slowed and labored, maybe even struggle to find words.

I have had episodes like this. I have not been aware of the slowed speech but others have.

My best to you.

Since my last post, my son improved at a gradual rate to the point of being symptom-free. Regular massage therapy treatments from a woman also skilled in Chinese accu-pressure played a big role in alleviating his symptoms - he described it as like a fog lifting.

He recently skied for the first time in 7 weeks, reporting no symptoms (he's not allowed, by my order, to do jumps or non-groomed runs for this year).

All signs are we've turned the corner - for now, recognizing that this may be the beginning of dealing with these sorts of injuries on a regular basis. As a result, we're taking it very slow as he resumes activity.

Thanks to everybody, especially Mark in Idaho, for their most helpful support, ideas and reassurances.

I sure hope this does not become a habit. His next concussion will have far worse symptoms. There is only downhill from here. Downhill should be for skiing, not brain health.

Be careful
 

It is good to hear your son is doing well. Make sure he is careful in his runs down hill. Any time we hear that someone has an improvement it is worth celebrating. thank you for telling us about it. ginnie:yahoo:

Just curious if you had any neuro-psych testing done. At this point, I think the main purpose would not be so much to check for damage from this concussion but to have a baseline for comparison if any future concussions should occur.