A new study has found that getting active soon following a concussion can help children heal. Concussions can be a serious threat to a child's health, and there are signs to watch out for. When children are playing at the gym, or in a contact sport, or even just out rollerblading, they are at risk of a head injury, including a concussion. Concussions can have serious repercussions, and it is important that parents get their children the help they need should they injure their heads. Studies are constantly being done to better the medical world and find better ways of handling concussions, including after-care.According to Medical Xpress, a new study has found that getting active soon after a concussion can help a child heal. This may go against what parents thought, which was that a child needs rest to heal. This study was done by the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, and it can be read in full here.The clinical trial showed that a return to non-contact physical activity three days following a concussion can actually be beneficial to children. The study was done with 45 patients who were between the ages of 10 and 17 years old.One group of participants rested until they had no more symptoms of a concussion, and the other started resuming physical activities 72 hours following their concussion. They were all asked to complete surveys about their symptoms throughout the period. They found that two weeks after the concussion, both groups reported similar symptoms which showed researchers that returning to physical activity three days post-concussion was not harmful.The researchers also found that those who resumed activities had greater overall improvement of symptoms, and a lower rate of delayed recovery when compared to those who rested until they felt completely back to normal.
The researchers state that this study can help medical professionals when they are working with children who have concussions. That they should be encouraged to get up and move three days post-concussion. They are also hoping that this information may change guidelines on how concussions are treated and handled by medical professionals.
When it comes to what a child should be doing following a concussion, the researchers stated that 15 minutes of “moderate” walking is a good starting point, and if they are able to handle that they can increase it a bit every day. However, they state that a return to sports should be approved by the doctor.
Sources: Medical Xpress, BMJ Open