Athletes who continued to play with a sports-related concussion required nearly twice as long to recover than those who were immediately removed from play (44 vs 22 days). These athletes also demonstrated worse neurocognitive and symptom presentation for up to 30 days post-injury than those athletes who immediately stopped playing.
These results provide further evidence for existing guidelines regarding youth sports concussion, which call for early recognition and removal from play. Knowing that trying to “play through the pain” could potentially double recovery time, athletes and coaches might be motivated to get a possible concussion evaluated sooner by a qualified health care professional, who is trained in concussion management.
In addition, it is well reported in scientific studies that children and adolescents often experience delayed-onset symptoms, hours or even days after their initial injury. Early removal from play is also important, then, as it may be unclear immediately after the impact how much of a concussive injury has occurred.
Since evidence based, best-practice guidelines have changed significantly in the last few years, it is important that all individuals in a position to recognize, remove and diagnose concussion are current with the most recent research recommendations.
The bottom line is that there are no benefits to trying to play through symptoms of a concussion. Focusing on the positive outcomes that result from speaking up sooner rather than later is more effective than attention to the negative potential outcomes.
San Luis Sports Therapy’s Concussion Clinic provides pre-injury baseline testing and post-injury assessments for patients with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) using evidence-based, best-practice recommendations. For more information on this unique service in SLO, please call (805) 269-6402. For more information please visit slsportstherapy.com.
Citation:
Removal From Play After Concussion and Recovery Time. Pediatrics, September 2016, vol 138, iss 3. R.J. Elbin, Alicia Sufrinko, Philip Schatz, Jon French, Luke Henry, Scott Burkhart, Michael W. Collins, Anthony P. KontosR.J. Elbin, Alicia Sufrinko, Philip Schatz, Jon French, Luke Henry, Scott Burkhart, Michael W. Collins, Anthony P. Kontos
For more information about this topic or to schedule an interview with Stacey, please call 805-269-6402 or email, [email protected].