1bassoon Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 So dd15 whacked her head on her bedpost Monday night. At co-op yesterday she complained of headache, confusion, sensitivity to loud noises, eyes hurting. . . . .this morning Dr. diagnosed her with a concussion, put her on 48 hours of physical and mental rest. FUN! (not) Dr. said that her recovery shouldn't be terribly long, but depends on how she responds to the rest and how well she rests. Anyone with experience want to share their experience? What can we expect? What should we watch out for?She's already bored out of her mind, and it's not even been 12 hours of rest. (Side note: we are supposed to travel this weekend - family funeral and/or trip to see eldest dd about 7 hours away. Long story. Not sure we're going to make it) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Entropymama Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 Well, we've had three concussions here. My now 12yo ds had two, when he was about 5 and 7. Playground accidents, he threw up, rested a few days, no big deal. My now 7yo ds was in a sledding accident two years ago and was literally knocked out for ten minutes. He got a night at the hospital and a couple MRIs. Still, he just had to lay low for a while. No wrestling or jumping off high things. We did limit screen time and feed him a bunch of brain-healthy fats per the chiropractor's advice (and took him in a few times to her) but the pediatrician wasn't worried at all and didn't recommend anything much. Today neither have any lingering effects. I keep hearing concussions are a big deal, but my experience has been that there's not much you can do. Hope she feels better soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rutheart Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 Just a heads up, when I had a mild concussion as an adult, it messed with my periods. For the next 6 months, I was suddenly having +/-90 day periods. It's not something the official websites mention, but when I chatted with other women, they also had the same experience. Ruth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linders Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 DO NOT let her resume activity until the headaches are 100% gone and she feels perfect. And take mental rest seriously - no reading, no screens. A dear friend's daughter got a concussion, rested a week, went back to school. Headaches resumed, but she muscled through. And had to drop out for a year at the end of the (dismal) quarter, because she had short-term memory issues. DS12 had a concussion last year, was on "brain rest" for almost 2 weeks, and it was horrible! But he made a full recovery. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bambam Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 My youngest dd has a concussion last year. Dr. said keep the lights low, no electronics, no headphones, very little TV if any (and no horror), no reading, and mental rest. She was on the couch with all the curtains pulled for about 2 weeks. It was bad. We played very familiar audio books for her (for about 10 minutes, then she had to rest for an hour) - Beatrix Potter, that type of thing - stories she loved when she was younger. As the boredom continued, we printed out some preschoolish color pages (few details) and would let her color one every so often (just for something to do!). It was a long and boring time. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1bassoon Posted February 25, 2016 Author Share Posted February 25, 2016 Thank you all! We're only on day 2, and it's so hard for her. She's really not feeling good, and keeps having weird symptoms (orange light appearing when she closes her eyes; pain down the back of her head into her spinal cord) I appreciate your experience, especially about staying "down" until she is really recovered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linders Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 (edited) Thank you all! We're only on day 2, and it's so hard for her. She's really not feeling good, and keeps having weird symptoms (orange light appearing when she closes her eyes; pain down the back of her head into her spinal cord) I appreciate your experience, especially about staying "down" until she is really recovered. :grouphug: to you and your DD. The persistence of symptoms after 24 hours would worry me. I wonder if she should return to the doc who could arrange for further evaluation? Edited February 25, 2016 by linders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jen3kids Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 She should be checked for a neck sprain as well. A neck sprain will prevent her from sleeping deeply, the kind of sleep that her brain needs to heal. My oldest got a concussion last March and he still has issues with his neck - misaligned vertebrae due to strained ligaments caused by his concussion. He was hit pretty hard during a lacrosse game so perhaps your dd won't have that issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 (edited) . Edited September 15, 2016 by wapiti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junie Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 (edited) This chart was very helpful for me when my ds had a concussion a few years ago. He had a baseball injury and was taken to the ER. The docs in the ER were actually thrilled that he's homeschooled because we had more control over his school work schedule. He was told in the ER to not use any screens (TV, computer, etc.) for 2 weeks. Ds was actually OK with that until the doctor said, "And no reading" for the same amount of time. (ETA: This 2-week period of rest was stage 1 on the chart that I linked.) He listened to some audiobooks, played board games, and was basically bored. But, he has had no issues from his concussion!! hth And hope that your daughter has a complete recovery!! ETA (again): From the day of concussion until he was back to full-time activities was probably a month, maybe 6 weeks. His injury happened on the last day of the baseball season, so he didn't go back to sports for about 5 months. Edited February 26, 2016 by Junie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 It's so hard to rest a brain. My son really struggled, but we did the best we could. I agree with others that she needs to rest until she's asymptomatic. However, lingering mild stuff like headaches that come on after a busy day can go on for a long time in my experience. My son actually lost consciousness and had pretty serious symptoms right away, so he got an MRI and maybe his recovery took longer due to severity. I don't know. It was a long time to entirely without headaches though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodGrief Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 48 hours seems too short to me, especially with symptoms. My daughter had a fairly serious concussion with loss of consciousness and amnesia a couple years ago. She was on brain rest for a solid week with slow return to activity over a couple months. The good news is that she had no problems at the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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