Heads Up on Youth Sports

Article by healthybalance.com staff
Posted on June 11, 2008

With the spring athletic season in full swing, kids playing baseball, softball, soccer and other sports are scoring points, making runs and, sometimes, getting hurt doing it. While sprains, abrasions and fractures wreak havoc on young athletes, at least these have obvious symptoms. It’s usually easy to tell when it’s safe to resume play.

Concussions are another matter. Every year, more than 60,000 U.S. high school athletes are reported with concussions. Mild concussions can go unnoticed—or unreported, especially when an athlete or over-zealous coach doesn’t want to risk valuable playing time.

In other instances, athletes who have suffered concussions resume play too soon. A recent study found that when young athletes return to sports too quickly after a concussion, their brains recover more slowly than when they sit out for a longer time.

The Journal of Athletic Training reported that young athletes with even mild concussions ought to postpone return to play for a good period of time. When these young people resumed intense play too quickly, they not only slowed their recovery but also made their symptoms worse.

“Given the health issues associated with concussion, which may last longer than once thought, the decision on when and how to return an athlete not only to the playing field, but also to normal day-to-day activity, has begun receiving attention as a national health issue,” said Jason P. Mihalik, athletic trainer at University of North Carolina and an author of the study. “By continuing with high levels of activity, they began to exhibit similar symptoms to those who initially experienced a more severe concussion.”

Time out
The study looked at the medical records and activity levels of 95 student athletes who had sports-related concussions, 80 boys and 15 girls. Those who returned to play sooner and had the highest intensity of involvement demonstrated lower scores in cognitive tests and slower reaction times. Those athletes who spent more time recuperating had higher scores and reaction times.
While the study did not make a specific recommendation about how much time off a student athlete with a concussion should take, the researchers did conclude that when it comes to concussions, the more time taken for healing the better.

Signs of concussion
Mayoclinic.com lists these signs of concussion:

• Confusion
• Amnesia
• Headache
• Dizziness
• Ringing in the ears
• Nausea or vomiting
• Slurred speech

These additional symptoms may appear hours or days later:
• Mood and cognitive disturbances
• Sensitivity to light and noise
• Sleep disturbances
• Listlessness, tiring easily
• Irritability, crankiness
• Change in eating or sleeping patterns
• Loss of balance, unsteady walking

If you have any doubts about the severity of a blow to the head, see your family doctor.