Comments on: If Your Children Plan to Play School Sports This Year, Educate Yourself Now http://ehealth.cooperhealth.org/2009/07/children-plan-play-school-sports-year-educate/ Your connection to healthier living Sat, 28 Jan 2012 11:28:12 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Denice Ferrarelli http://ehealth.cooperhealth.org/2009/07/children-plan-play-school-sports-year-educate/comment-page-1/#comment-235 Denice Ferrarelli Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:57:50 +0000 http://ehealth.cooperhealth.org/?p=504#comment-235 Dear Leslie: Thank you for your very important comments. Indeed, any activity involving the potential for head injury needs to be addressed the same as "contact sports." Any child who hits his head or has a hit to the chest or neck that is transmitted to the head should be watched for symptoms of concussion, regardless of how the "hit "occurred. Again, thank you. Good luck to you and your family. -- Dr. R. Robert Franks Dear Leslie: Thank you for your very important comments. Indeed, any activity involving the potential for head injury needs to be addressed the same as “contact sports.” Any child who hits his head or has a hit to the chest or neck that is transmitted to the head should be watched for symptoms of concussion, regardless of how the “hit “occurred.
Again, thank you. Good luck to you and your family.
– Dr. R. Robert Franks

]]> By: Denice Ferrarelli http://ehealth.cooperhealth.org/2009/07/children-plan-play-school-sports-year-educate/comment-page-1/#comment-234 Denice Ferrarelli Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:44:21 +0000 http://ehealth.cooperhealth.org/?p=504#comment-234 Hello, Monica: Good question. Any child who hits his head or has a hit to the chest or neck that is transmitted to the head should be watched for symptoms of concussion. If the child is old enough to speak, you should look for complaints of headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, difficulty with concentration or memory and sensitivity to light or sound just to name a few. If the child does not have verbal skills yet, s/he should be looked at for non-verbal cues. See if the child is holding his head for a long period of time, being more irritable or fussy in association with holding his/her head, walking with an abnormal gait or shielding his eyes from bright light or ears from sound can clue one in to something that is more than just a simple bump on the head and should be seen by a physician as it may be a more serious issue such as the development of concussion. All the best. -- Dr. R. Robert Franks Hello, Monica: Good question. Any child who hits his head or has a hit to the chest or neck that is transmitted to the head should be watched for symptoms of concussion. If the child is old enough to speak, you should look for complaints of headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, difficulty with concentration or memory and sensitivity to light or sound just to name a few. If the child does not have verbal skills yet, s/he should be looked at for non-verbal cues. See if the child is holding his head for a long period of time, being more irritable or fussy in association with holding his/her head, walking with an abnormal gait or shielding his eyes from bright light or ears from sound can clue one in to something that is more than just a simple bump on the head and should be seen by a physician as it may be a more serious issue such as the development of concussion.
All the best. — Dr. R. Robert Franks

]]> By: Denice Ferrarelli http://ehealth.cooperhealth.org/2009/07/children-plan-play-school-sports-year-educate/comment-page-1/#comment-236 Denice Ferrarelli Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:40:17 +0000 http://ehealth.cooperhealth.org/?p=504#comment-236 Hello, Andrew: If your son attends a high school or college that has the ImPACT Program, he can have the test obtained there. It can also be done at Cooper Bone and Joint Institute in Voorhees, where the baseline test can be performed in the office. You can call Cooper's physician referral service at 1-800-8-COOPER (800-826-6737) for more info. Best Wishes. -- Dr. R. Robert Franks Hello, Andrew: If your son attends a high school or college that has the ImPACT Program, he can have the test obtained there. It can also be done at Cooper Bone and Joint Institute in Voorhees, where the baseline test can be performed in the office. You can call Cooper’s physician referral service at 1-800-8-COOPER (800-826-6737) for more info.
Best Wishes. — Dr. R. Robert Franks

]]> By: Leslie McGuigan http://ehealth.cooperhealth.org/2009/07/children-plan-play-school-sports-year-educate/comment-page-1/#comment-233 Leslie McGuigan Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:49:30 +0000 http://ehealth.cooperhealth.org/?p=504#comment-233 THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, for bringing this well needed topic out for discussion. We need to educate more coaches, parents, athletes and also many more of the health care professionals of the signs of concussions. If gone undetected can and does lead into more long term and harder to treat symptoms. Because the brain did not have the proper rest time. This should be discussed not only for school sports but also those many activities that our children are involved in with outside organizations. Sometimes the children in tackle football are more protected because of their helmets, but we tend to forget about those contact sports like cheerleading, gymnastics, and other sports where the child's heads are not protected or that we may not necessarily categorize them automatically as a contact sport. We are a family experiencing exactly this problem and I would love to do my best to bring this to the attention of as many people as I can so that it can be taken more seriously. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, for bringing this well needed topic out for discussion. We need to educate more coaches, parents, athletes and also many more of the health care professionals of the signs of concussions. If gone undetected can and does lead into more long term and harder to treat symptoms. Because the brain did not have the proper rest time. This should be discussed not only for school sports but also those many activities that our children are involved in with outside organizations. Sometimes the children in tackle football are more protected because of their helmets, but we tend to forget about those contact sports like cheerleading, gymnastics, and other sports where the child’s heads are not protected or that we may not necessarily categorize them automatically as a contact sport. We are a family experiencing exactly this problem and I would love to do my best to bring this to the attention of as many people as I can so that it can be taken more seriously.

]]> By: Monica Deacon http://ehealth.cooperhealth.org/2009/07/children-plan-play-school-sports-year-educate/comment-page-1/#comment-232 Monica Deacon Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:23:15 +0000 http://ehealth.cooperhealth.org/?p=504#comment-232 I am a grandmother and wanted to know when a little toddler just learning to walk bumps his head or falls and hits his head hard, how dangerous is this and should you watch him for specific symptoms. Most times they cry , then continue playing, but as I've gotten older I am more concerned about head trauma. Thank you Monica I am a grandmother and wanted to know when a little toddler just learning to walk bumps his head or falls and hits his head hard, how dangerous is this and should you watch him for specific symptoms. Most times they cry , then continue playing, but as I’ve gotten older I am more concerned about head trauma.

Thank you
Monica

]]> By: Andrew ODell http://ehealth.cooperhealth.org/2009/07/children-plan-play-school-sports-year-educate/comment-page-1/#comment-231 Andrew ODell Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:21:02 +0000 http://ehealth.cooperhealth.org/?p=504#comment-231 My son will be starting tackle football next week. How can we get this baseline test done for him? My son will be starting tackle football next week. How can we get this baseline test done for him?

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