[chachi44]

On Monday, my child, age 8, had a normal fall and roll while learning to snowboard. When he came up, he said he saw the galaxy and described a pattern of dark and light rectangles. He said he felt a bit ill and had a headache, so we shut it down, concerned about a concussion. He spent the rest of the day at home taking it easy. No other signs were noted - i.e. he slept normally (I woke him up every few hours without incident).

He attended school the following day and felt nauseous after recess, so I pulled him out and we went to a medical clinic. The doctor said to keep him out of recess and gym for 2 days, which we've done.

This morning (Friday), his low grade nausea persists. He does not complain about it, his appetite is totally normal, but says that it's always there and is akin to slight carsickness. He notices it most after we drive somewhere. He otherwise seems fine - reads, plays piano, watches tv and plays video games without complaint or apparent difficulties.

We're seeing the family doctor later today for more guidance, but I thought I'd post this to see if anybody has any experience in this regard. My son's an avid skier and soccer player and we've told him he can't do either until he's symptom-free, so I think there's no chance of malingering here. Any insights into the course this might take or helpful ideas for treatment are most welcome.

[ginnie]

I want to welcome you to Neuro Talk. This is a good site that will help you get some more information. There is a forum for concussions, with others who have experienced this too. I am sorry your 8 year old had this accident happen to him. You are absolutly right about getting him to your primary care physician for him. He needs a complete evaluation of course before returning to any kind of sport. I hope this isn't a serious concussion, but one that he can recover from without too much more trouble. Please ask around the site and I am sure you will find others that will respond to you too. I wish you and your son all the best. I hope you find resolution to his condition. ginnie

[Mark in Idaho]

chachi,

You son needs to take it a bit easier. No more video games or highly stimulating TV watching.

Has his soccer coach taught him heading the ball? Do they practice it?
This could have conditioned his brain to be much more sensitive to impacts.

The clinic doctor is clueless. He should be held out of strenuous activity until his symptoms are resolved. 2 days is not going to make much difference. Consider 2 weeks as a starting point.

If he skis and is learning snow boarding, he will be much safer skiing. The risk of further injury is much higher from snow boarding with the frequent butt plants that transmit impacts all the way to the head. Skiing in a sedate style with no racing or mogul jumping should be easier on his brain after his nausea resolves. He should go easy on the risky activities for the next YEAR.

The young brain is extremely active growing and maturing. Head injuries during this age can lead to lifelong problems.

Hope you family doctor has a clue about concussion. Most don't.

My best to you.

[chachi44]

Mark,

Thanks for your reply.

Noted re tv and video games.

We're definitely steeling for the possibility of reduced activity for a longer stretch.

Heading isn't part of his soccer yet. I think they'd done one session on it & the coach is sensitive to potential of injury from doing so at an early age. It almost never comes up in games at this age - they don't have the coordination.

It's an active community (ski town in BC), so I'm hoping that the family doc has some prior experience with this. I've also got a few friends who are doctors and parents have kids the same age that will offer informal advice.

He's already sold on the merits of skiing over snowboarding. I'll ask the doctor about whether he should ski at all while low grade nausea persists. He's a very strong skier, so I imagine sticking to easy groomed runs would minimize chance of further injury, but I'm very hesitant to expose him at all ...

[Mark in Idaho]

If he skis with a bent knees style, he will be more able to absorb the bumps. I need to ski with both bent knees and shoulders forward so that my spine can absorb the bumps and chatter.

I hear that half of the California ski professionals are up in BC. My daughter teaches at Sierra Tahoe on the single ski run they can cover with man-made snow.

Glad to hear about heading. He should never head the ball.

My first concussion was falling down the stairs at 8 years old. My second at 10 from a bike accident. Then, I played soccer for 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th until subconcussive impacts from heading the ball very infrequently crashed my academics and changed my life.

Soccer players who routinely head the ball have been measured to have a 10 point lower IQ score than those who don't.

I hope he is not having any personality changes from his concussion. I became ornery. I went from being everybody's friend to nobody's friend in short order.

Does he play ice hockey? It is very risky too.

My best to you both.

[chachi44]

Mark,

No ice hockey (thankfully). We're a ski family, but he doesn't race - doesn't want to either. He sees that as a lot of standing around waiting when you could be skiing.

No personality changes. Just persistent lowgrade nausea that doesn't seem to affect his appetite or mood, but is nonetheless there. I think we're lucky that this first one is mild.

Saw the family doctor Friday who recommended no activities, recess, sports, for 2 weeks and then we'll see where we're at. She seemed to think that a ct scan would only confirm what we already suspect - a mild concussion.

She recommended an optometrist's appointment, which we had today, with all appearing to be fine. I guess they make sure that the retina hasn't detached, which is a potential risk with these types of falls.

He seemed a touch better today, so hopefully it's the beginning of symptoms abating. He seems to understand, thanks to Sydney Crosby's plight, just how serious concussions are and that he'll have to take precautions in how he skis to ensure he doesn't suffer another.

I'll update again i due course ...

C

[Concussed Scientist]

On a positive note, I had quite a bad concussion due to a playground accident when I was your son's age. I effectively lost my sight and had nausea for months afterwards. I was taken out of school for at least a couple of weeks from memory. Then I went back but I kept getting mild nausea.

It got more and more infrequent till, in the end, it went away completely and I made a complete recovery. Fortunately a child's brain is quite plastic. I don't think that I suffered much loss of intilligence due to the injury, although I suppose there is not telling how smart I might have been!

I think that you are doing the right thing to treat it very seriously, but perhaps you can be optimistic for a good outcome at the same time.

Good luck.
CS

[chachi44]

Thanks CS - that kind of optimism is really encouraging.

The boy is home again today. While everything is still within the range of "mild", it does seem like certain symptoms have intensified or progressed.

His nausea is still lowgrade, but increases when he goes outside or goes from dark to very light.

He now notices slight irritability when overstimulated and a propensity to become more easily overstimulated. i.e. he described the noise of my doing dishes combined with the sound of the vacuum cleaner as something that made him "want to escape".

He has an occasional twitch, best described as a quick shiver (like the shiver males get while urinating) that leaves him with a few seconds of tingling.

He's still in great spirits and seems able to read and play the piano and board games without complaint. His appetite is healthy.

I may get him back in front of the doctor this week to try and get referred to the pediatrician in the hope that she will have dealt with more cases like this and will be more proactive with determining whether we should get a CT or MRI, and facilitating baseline testing.

[Mark in Idaho]

chahci,

A CT or MRI at this point will be of little value. The CT will be undue radiation exposure. the MRI will just be an exhausting experience for one with auditory sensitivity. Unless he is exhibiting severe head aches or loss of balance or coordination, etc. imaging is not called for and will likely be normal.

I understand his struggle with the vacuum and clanking dishes. They can be auditorily over-stimulating. His awareness of needing to escape shows that he is understanding his symptoms well.

Interesting shiver comment. I have never experienced it 'that' way. I have experienced an overall shiver like a wave of nervous energy passing through my body.

It sounds like he just needs time with rest and quiet then a slow reintroduction to light and sound. Not much can be done from a treatment angle.

My best to you both.

[chachi44]

Mark - thanks for the insight re scans.

The way I described the "shiver" is based on what I observe the action as - what he actually feels isn't a shivering sensation per se, but he hasn't been able to articulate why he does it or what he feels when it happens. He just says it feels good to do it when he does it.

Agreed re treatment. It's clear that the jump into the classroom after the weekend makes him feel lousy, and that the rest at home keeps him on an even keel.

I feel pretty lucky that what we're experiencing is very surmountable for now and relative to what others endure, pretty benign.