It’s summer and after being cooped up from COVID-19 shutdowns, kids are outside having some fun in the sun! While many extracurricular sports have been suspended this year due to the Coronavirus pandemic, your children may still be participating in activities that could lead to a serious brain injury – a concussion. Here’s an overview of what to do if your child gets a concussion.
What’s a Concussion?
A concussion is the most common type of traumatic brain injury, or TBI, for short. Concussions can occur when:
- You experience a sudden blow to the head.
- You experience violent whipping (shaking front to back) of the head.
Concussions are sometimes rated as mild (grade 1), moderate (grade 2), or severe (grade 3). Sometimes concussions cause the injured person to temporarily lose consciousness.
There are a variety of concussion symptoms that your child may experience, which might include:
- A painful headache.
- Drowsiness or confusion.
- Feeling dizzy.
- Hearing ringing in the ears.
- Being sensitive to light or noise.
- Having problems balancing or suddenly being clumsy.
- Having slurred speech.
- Having a loss of memory.
- Nausea and vomiting – especially repeated vomiting.
- Temporary loss of consciousness.
How Kids Get Concussions
There are a variety of different ways that kids can suffer a concussion. These include:
- Falling off a bike when the child isn’t wearing a helmet.
- Falling from broken or faulty backyard or park playground equipment.
- Playing sports, like softball and baseball, even recreational sports in the neighborhood without wearing the proper safety equipment, like helmets.
- Slipping and falling at a pool.
What To Do If You Suspect Your Child Has a Concussion
If you think your child may have sustained a concussion you need to go to the emergency room. This is especially true if your child blacked out after hitting his or her head or falling, or if he or she is vomiting after the head injury occurred.
While most ERs will perform neurological tests that can be done in an exam room, sometimes they need to perform CT scans on kids with concussions. This expensive, but necessary test is performed to determine if the brain is bleeding as a result of the hit or fall. Brain bleeds, which if left untreated can be fatal, require immediate diagnosis and treatment.
If your child is diagnosed with a concussion, you will likely need to follow up with his or her pediatrician within a day or two. Typical recovery for even a mild concussion in a child are:
- Reduction of any academic activities (even summer reading and workbook pages).
- Reduction in screen time.
- Refraining from physical activities until the brain has healed.
- Keeping follow up appointments with his or her pediatrician to monitor the brain healing process.
After your child has received the appropriate medical care, if you are concerned that someone else may be responsible for your child’s injury, please call our firm to discuss your situation
Contact Us
We’ll listen to your story, interview witnesses, determine if someone else was at fault for your child’s accident, and determine if you have a personal injury claim.
A monetary settlement from a personal injury claim can reimburse you for your child’s medical expenses, as well as compensate you for the time you need to take off from work to care for your child, and your child’s pain and suffering.
To reach our offices, call us today at (703) 813-6460 or fill out our online contact form.