After the Concussion

When your child experiences a concussion, and there is a chance they will experience one if they play sports, it will change the way their brain functions. The danger for the parent is that it is tempting for their child-athlete, and in many cases the coach if their properly educated, to think their child hasn’t suffered from a concussion if they haven’t lost consciousness.

Well, your child may or may not lose consciousness as a result of this mild traumatic brain injury, but there are a list of other symptom that will follow. Not all of those symptom will occur, and they may only last for up to 15 minutes, but there are steps parents and coaches can and should take to care for that child athlete.

Postconcussion Care

  • Rest – Without a doubt, your child’s care is more important than the score of the game. They need to sit out for the remainder of the game without question. It’s tempting to want to act like the pros who suffer concussions and then receive standing ovations because they trot back onto the court or field moments later. Each of those athletes would probably tell you they wished they hadn’t tried to play hero at the cost of their health.
  • Avoid repeat concussions – If you damage anything once, that’s not good. But the more and more you damage whatever it is, the worse and worse it gets. One concussion is bad enough, but putting yourself in positions where you might experience multiple concussions is even worse. Each concussion can cause brain swelling, brain damage, long-term disabilities, or possibly death.
  • Protect yourself – In many sports, there is certain equipment that is mandatory to wear. That’s good, and it’s even better to go above and beyond that and wear all of the safety equipment that’s available. You and your child will want to make sure it fits properly, as well as it’s also important to maintain that equipment.
  • Upper Cervical – The brain sometimes literally rattles around in the head, due to the impact. An upper cervical chiropractor can examine their upper cervical spine after their injury, to check for any misalignments that may lead to further complications.

Now, it’s important that your child enjoy your childhood, but that means keeping them happy and healthy. That doesn’t always mean giving them what they want, but it means doing the best job you can to protect them from the bad things that can happen to them.

Unfortunately, concussions are one of those bad things, but the steps above will help you to protect them from suffering from concussions. And the last one, upper cervical chiropractic, is a gentle and specific type of chiropractic that will focus on aligning their head on top of their body. They do this by aligning the top two vertebrae in the neck, so as to ensure the brain is able to communicate with the body via the brainstem.

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Dr. Armen Manoucherian of Health Edge Family Spinal Care in Glendale, California is a Glendale Chiropractor and Upper Cervical Specialist trained by the National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association (NUCCA). He has helped many children and adults find natural relief in Glendale, California. His upper cervical clinic also serves the communities of Pasadena, Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Burbank. He is uniquely trained to correct problems in the upper cervical spine (upper neck). This vital area is intimately connected to the central nervous system and problems in this area have been shown to be an underlying cause of a variety of different health problems. More information can be found on his website at http://www.healthedgela.com