9 Year Old & a Concussion

Concussions freak me out. Anytime my son falls or hits his head, I just lose it. its a waiting game, as well as very hard to get a real good diagnosis and severity of impact, etc. you just don't know without a scan.

If they don't vomit, have terrible headaches, and show signs of confusion, irritability , sleepiness they should be ok. However, it's best to keep a sharp eye on them for at least two weeks afterwards. Just to be safe.

If they do continue to have symptoms, I would follow up with Dr right away.

No sports for one week?? Damn - ours won't let them do sports for two weeks and another scan.

Does he have a bump on his head?
Are his pupils "equal" again?
If the nausea continues? I would take him BACK to the ER - especially if he does NOT have a visible bump in his head...that means, to me, that the injury is pushing back on his brain.

Check him for balance....that irritability is normal - not fun - but normal with a concussion,.

Did your son lose consciousness?

Seriously - if your son is vomiting tonight and even tomorrow? I'd be back in the ER and push them for something.

Good luck!

I would follow up Monday with his pediatrician.
O. week sounds like not enough.
Rest and quite is VERY important for concussion recovery.
Your ped. Might refer you to a concussion clinic.

Have you checked in with your ped? I ask because this seems like....not enough. When my friends son had a concussion at age 10 he was told no school for a week, no screen time for two weeks and no sports for 2 weeks. Then he had to get another scan before he was given the ok for screen time or sports.

I don't know how long he had nausea but I think he had headaches for a week.

I would like to suggest that you get a second opinion.

Yes to all of the below. Personally, I would have my pediatrician involved every step of the way too. I have a history of severe TBI you must do everything they tell you.
The two weeks without school or stimulus sounds a little closer to accurate.
Good luck

In response to another post. Did the doctor do an MRI or a CAT scan? If so that would show an internal bruise pushing against the brain. How did he hit his head And how hard? Injuries inside the skull are the result of a massive external injury.

nausea should be 1 or 2 days.. but the concussion symptoms can last weeks.. headaches.. dizziness.. my friends son was out of sports and gym for 3 or 4 weeks.. he kept going to the neurologist thye did tests that he failed and it was back to rest and recuperate..

calm quiet.. no tv.. no reading.. just rest... they can do playdoh and color.. nothing that takes thinking.. books on CD are ok.. but no screens..

Can't answer your question, but I just want to tell you so sorry about your son! I hope he gets better soon! If your mama bells are ringing, don't hesitate to get him an appointment with a ped neurologist for a follow up.

The nausea is not your biggest problem. The concussion is. The nausea is the side effect. How long it lasts is dependent on the severity of the injury.

Did you get good instructions about how to handle this the next time? You never let anyone (child or adult) go to sleep with a head injury. You wake them every 2 hours and ask a series of questions. So get up to date on that because it may happen again. I was severely concussed as a kid (and afraid to tell my parents because they were big punishers). I definitely was out of it and had a brain bleed - luckily it all went into my eye socket and I had a vicious black eye for weeks. I could have been in much worse shape so I was fortunate. M son has had 2 injuries with possible concussion - he's okay but we didn't push it either time.

I wouldn't let him go back to sports in a week if he's in this condition now. Just pamper him and keep him still with good nutrition and hydration.

I'm a bit late on answering this, but please, please, please, take this very seriously. Don't let him back to activities prematurely.
I got a bad concussion when I was 7 and have had migraines ever since and developed seizures as an adult.
My son got two concussions last year, the first was bad, the second was mild, but they are not separate, they are additive. Once you have one, you can never erase it, you have to be very careful.
My son developed post-concussion syndrome after the second one and it's very serious. He hallucinated and had depression and anxiety.
I would limit contact sports for much longer than 1 week, try 6 months! If he gets hit again, that would be awful.
Also, just an fyi, Zofran creates agitation, it would be better just for him to rest.
If you are interested, since you are in Long Beach, you might want to take him to a concussion specialist if any of the symptoms persist. We went to a satellite office for Children's Hospital LA in Torrance and the doctor there was excellent! Dr. Bianca Edison.
Ultimately, my son had to take two months off of doing any computer screens, sports, etc., and then slowly work his way back to "normal". He can no longer play competitive contact sports, the risk is too great, so he plays recreationally instead where he isn't in such an intense environment and likely to get hurt again. We don't keep him in a bubble, but he now plays non-checking ice hockey, and does not play varsity sports in high school anymore, and ALWAYS wears a helmet when he skateboards.

My son is 22 and has had 3 concussions. NO he did NOT play football. He just hits his head. One was a sledding accident, one was a skiing accident and one was a car accident.

The worse one was his first. The sledding accident. He was knocked out and thank goodness my friend was there and brought him home. His pupils were really dilated and he was seeing double and triple of everything. Also he got really sleepy. By the time I got him to the ER, he was this gross gray color and having trouble communicating. Scared the devil out of me. It took several weeks for him to fully recover from that one and his activities were very limited. I also followed up with his pedi as well.

His last one was the car accident. It took a couple of weeks recovery time for that one as well and again activities were limited.