We teach our children to be tough and never give up, but we should make an exception when it comes to taking a hard hit.
"If there are any signs that they may suffer from a concussion, a child should be removed from the game," Buzzini says. This doesn't only mean showing symptoms, as those can take time to appear. If a child has been hit at all during the game, Buzzini suggests making them sit on the sidelines. By putting them back in the game too soon, your child runs the risk of second-impact syndrome, which happens when a child gets a second concussion before they recover from the first one. Buzzini adds that parents should exercise caution and give kids at least a week off from any physical or mental exertion so they can slowly work their way back to normal.
"I usually tell patients not only to rest their bodies to recover from the concussion, but to also rest their brains," he says. "Talk to the schools about giving extra time for assignments or postponing tests so that your child can recover sooner rather than later."
While some of these practices may seem a bit drastic, Buzzini stresses that it's better to be overly cautious.
"Concussions may be unavoidable. They just happen," he says. "But you don't want to go back to a game or to practice before being cleared. That's a no-brainer."
Source: Flickr user battlecreekcvb
