Concussions

[hockeybc69]

Probably not the perfect location for this but.....

My 15 year old son got a concussion on Nov 20th in a hockey game.

I have never had one. At least that I know of...

He isnt making much progress to this point. We are being told to hang in there.....

His was a grade 1 concussion.

I have to imagine a lot of you out there have dealt with this. I am struggling and wondering when we are going to see improvement.

Am I being silly about this? I dont think so. Its nothing to laugh about, I know that.

But when do we see some improvement? Obviously there are a lot of variables. But curious iwhat others have seen and experienced.

[birdswacker]

Look up Childrens Hospital (St. Paul) they are a very very good source for information about cocussions.

My son had a mild concussion and it took about 3 months for him to get better. I know of several of his buddies that have had them an it takes time for the brain to heal. One of his classmates won't be the same again because he's had 4-5 in the last year and a half.

You realy need to read up about concussions a week and a half isn't nearly enough time for the brain to heal itself.

[hockeybc69]

Sorry for asking.... LOL

I have never had to have a reason to ask about this.

Doctors havent told me to research it. I was told, minimum 2 weeks out of hockey.

3 months for a mild concussion??

How did he do with school over that time???

holy [PoorWordUsage]..... double triple ughhhh.

[birdswacker]

2 weeks? He shouldn't be playing til he shows no symtoms of a concussion.

My son is also 15. When he had his concussion (13yo) school was very tuff for him he was a B+ student that went to barely passing in a few weeks. He had a hard time reading he'd get very bad headaches, couldn't remember what he had just read or just talked about and he also at times became sensitive to light. His school had a program or something that we got him into that gave him more time to get his homework done and gave him help with tests. School now has voluntary concussion baseline test which players have to retake if injured to be able to play again. It was very stressful he would have moodswings memory issues. People think that it's no big deal because they don't see that cast or bandage but it definately is.

Childrens has an online concussion test also $3-$5 take it it's very helpful.

They also have some videos of former athletes that had pushed the healing process to far I would have you and your son watch them.

The kid I talked about with 4-5 his last one he was playing hacky sack and lost his balance. If it doesn't heal correctly your more suseptable to gettting them again.

[hockeybc69]

cripes.....

thanks birdwhacker.....

I posted this for a reason..... real world experiences...

Thank you.

[Kettle]

Concussions can be short lived or lengthy for recovery. The thing that many don't realize is that concussions can actually decrease brain flow similar to a stroke, but to compare the two would not be reliable. Strokes are normally caused by complete blockage of a artery or a rupture artery and normally show symptoms of paralysis where concussions are not nearly sever. Many schools are going to mandatory concussion baseline testing prior to the beginning of a season so If a child suffered a concussion they can have a previous baseline, to compare to and won't let kids play until they are back to baseline. Gone are the days of suck it up, was never a good thing. There is something called post concussion syndrome which can last for several months. If your child is having these symptoms talk to the school and let them know of the Dr.'s diagnosis if your child is diagnosed with this, so they can better adapt and understand. Do not rush him/her back into action, better to sit it out the whole season than have life long damage. I would recommend seeing someone at a trauma center, North, HCMC or regions for this MPLS kids is not a level 1 trauma center and does not staff all levels of neuro specialists. Take him or her to a neurologist and they will give you some insight.

Kettle

[spearchucker]

cripes.....

thanks birdwhacker.....

I posted this for a reason..... real world experiences...

Thank you.

I completely can relate to birdwhacker. Everything he said is true. My son had symptoms for 2 months. He got sick and dizzy whenever he got his heart rate up for about a month. Grades and concentration dropped like a rock.

[hockeybc69]

How are you kids now??

[spearchucker]

Seemed to have recovered pretty well. This was 3.5 years ago for me.

[fishing tech]

I have played hockey, coached hockey, and have 2 sons that played. Concussions are nothing to fool around with. The baseline tests should be done in my opinion at every level for all sports in all associations. 1 test per child per year. The problem is once you have a concussion, the next one comes easier and the recovery can be longer.

Both my boys have had them and both recovered at differant speeds. My oldest son had his last one over 3 years ago and still gets bad headaches. That last one came from a non agressive stick to his helmet.

You will see mood swings, falling grades, wanting to sleep alot and forgetfulness. Maybe somethings that are out of character for you child. As a coach and a parent it is hard to see players and your own child miss games and practices, but the long term effect can be very bad if proper healing is not allowed.

Best of luck to your son.

[scsavre]

Concussions are nothing to mess, but is there sometbing in the water or were we all too dumb to notice when we were young. I am 30 yrs old and was as reckelas as u could be. I nver had a concussion, no body on my hockey teams had concussions. You never even heard of them back then. Have any of u adults ever had a cuncussion back in the day or even now. I just don't get how every where u look someone has one.

And I am not doubting the injuries, I just can't believe we would be able to ignore the symptons. So are they on the rise even tho equipment is far suprior, I just don't get it

[fishing tech]

I believe that I have had a few, but 30-40 years ago you had the headache and maybe threw up or were tired all the time. It was put off as the flu, to mucn running around or nervousness over getting school work done that you couldn't understand.

A friend of mine hit his head on the ice with no helmet on. He could not finsh a sentance or remember where he lived. We took him home, his parents took him to the hospital. He was diagnoised with a concussion and told to rest for 2 days and then resume normal activities. We were 14 and very good friends.

He changed big time after that. Grades dropped, mood changes and very confrontational. Drugs and thefts became part of his life and I believe he is still in jail now.

Not saying the concussion caused it but it sure seamed to me that he changed when that happened.

As far as I know the only way you can know for sure if a person has a concussion or not is to do a CT scan. And have a previous CT scan to compare it to.

Again nothing to mess with.

[scsavre]

I was talking with friends at the wild game last night and this came up. It is amazing how many kids have gotten concussions. Fish tec, I think you are right about thinking we had the flu. It is so easy for parents and docs, nurses, etc to just tell us we had the flu.

Honestly, when we were younger, we didnt wear bike helmets, we actually played outdoor hockey, where you dont wear any equipment. Our helmets were terrible compared to todays. I really think we just thought we had the flu etc.

Play safe

[cbrooks]

As far as I know the only way you can know for sure if a person has a concussion or not is to do a CT scan. And have a previous CT scan to compare it to.

Again nothing to mess with.

good advice ft.

I was kock out cold in a outdoor game when I was 10 or 11. I was the goalie playing without a helmet took a slap shot right between the eyes. I still have a scare from it. Took me to the hospital to get stiches but never thought if I had a concussion at the time. I think our understanding of medicine is better now than when we played. Don't take any chances with concussion.

[jmd1]

My son has had 2 in the last 4 yrs. Our doctor told him that if he has one more he is done playing contact sports. The first one was when he went one on one in a tackling drill against a kid that was a horse. He ended up with a square bruise on his forehead where the front pad is located. He was not allowed to play football the rest of that season, it was a pop warner type league. The next year he was the horse and went head to head and ended up with both him and the other kid out for the year. No issues his freshman year and this year as a JV player i bought him a new helmet as the school issued one did not fit and rode up on his forehead.

He was not himself for the first month after getting hit either time. Then as time went on he got better. I am a firm believer that money is not an issue when it comes to helmets and face mask. The state of AZ requires all athletes to take the concussion test in school before each sport if they are playing. While the test has great intentions, i think that it all starts with coaching. We have all had our bell rung one time or another but it is becoming more serious as our kids are bigger and stronger then when we were growing up. Hang in there, he will get better.

If he does not show signs of recovery in the next couple weeks, get a second opinion.

[birdswacker]

Times have changed with regards to concussions. Minnesota has a new state law this year that "any coaches need to be concussion certified including assistants". In case anyone didn't know this you could be held liable in an accident did happen. There's a 30 minute on line course that you could take. I took it this past summer it has some very good information also.

[jmd1]

I see the feds getting involved sooner than later with this issue. Too many kids, adults are having problems from the hits and they will mandate that every state use some type of testing. We know too much about this now to not so something serious about it.

[hockeybc69]

I am not overly concerned about second opinions and such.

My wife works for a Sports medicince clinic and her boss is one of the top guys in the country.... I will spare the specifics about him, but I will just say he treats professional athletes from all sports across the country....

He is still not showing tremendous improvement. Part of his problem now seems to be the constant boredom of not being able to do anything except laying around. I know when I dont get out and do stuff, its pretty easy to fall into a rut.

I will say that his headaches are not as bad(from what he is telling us). He still has issues with bright light and some issues after reading for extended periods of time.

I will not rush him back. Its hard to not be able to watch him play his last year of bantams. And he is really ticked about it too.

But its out of our hands. ugh.....

Good info everyone. Thank you very much. And keep it coming. Good to hear all sides.

[RK]

Hiya -

Sorry to hear about your son...

Concussions can be enormously frustrating and confusing for everyone involved. The bottom line is, they take as long as they take, and no less or more. Every one, and every person, is different. The only thing you can do to speed the recovery is not pushing it to come back too soon.

My kids both play, and my daughter's 14U team lost two players in one game to concussions this past weekend - including our goalie. She went backwards during a scramble in front of the net and her head hit the post. Keep in mind, this is no-checking girls hockey too.

One of my daughter's teammates from years prior got a concussion last November when she got tripped up and went hard into the boards sideways. She is still suffering severe symptoms a year on, and can only go to classes for about 4 hours a day. Her hockey career is over, obviously. I have a friend who is a long-time girls B-ball coach and has seen a lot of players come back from concussions. He says most of them aren't 100% the same player for a year. Reflexes and decision making are slower, etc. For him he says the dead giveaway is girls missing the ball on a pass or rebound and getting smacked in the nose.

The flip side is, my daughter's had some teammates that have been cleared for contact in 10 days... It's utterly unpredictable.

The best thing you can do is be patient, and help your son be patient. It's maddening, but nothing you can do about it but give it the time it needs. When he's back on the ice, do everything you can equipment-wise. My kids both wear M11 helmets, have mouthguards fitted by a dentist, etc. Worth every penny, IMHO.

The days of "getting your bell rung" are definitely over. I can remember - kind of - going back to punt in a high school football game, trying to watch the play clock on the scoreboard, and thinking that it looked like something out of Star Wars - couldn't read the numbers at all, and didn't even recognize them as numbers. At halftime, my coach asked me where I was, and I apparently said "Tuesday." He made me lay down during halftime, and I played the second half...then puked in my helmet on the bus ride home. I had "the flu."

Good luck with your son, and be patient. Scrambled eggs are nothing to mess with. Ask Keith Primeau...or Marc Savard, or...

Cheers,

RK

[birdswacker]

I've also heard girls are more likely to get a concussion? Because they don't have any contact sports. True or not I don't know.

[RK]

Hiya -

Having a girl that plays hockey, I think in some ways girls are likely to get concussed because of how the game is without checking. I'd also disagree 100% that it's a non-contact sport.

Girls don't play the body quite the same way, but there is a lot of contact and physical play. The "hits" are often open ice collisions, or girls that get tripped up skating through a stick/hand check. "Checks" are on the move, shoulder to shoulder rub-outs along the wall, usually with players that have a good amount of speed, or pile-ups in the crease. When a boy comes up the boards into the O zone with the puck, or a D goes back to corral a dump in, they expect to get checked. They manage their speed and get ready for it. Girls go in with speed, and contact is often a shoulder rub or a trip. When one goes down, they can land pretty hard. It's different than a body check where both players are inviting the contact. I know a couple years ago, when my daughter was a first year 12U, her coach had them learn to check in practice, just so they'd learn how to position their bodies for contact. It's helped them all a lot in later years I think.

My kid is a big power forward. She's 14, 5'10", wears size 11 men's skates, and is probably 200 pounds with her gear on - and she's not a fat kid. I'm not small, and she can lift me off the ground and carry me around. She's just a moose... When she heads up the ice with a head of steam, she's a load. She has really lit up some defensemen that have tried to step up on her, and it's well within the rules of the girls game. Playing physical is very much a part of her game, and for lots of other girls too. With that contact, sometimes, comes concussions. As I said above, we have 2 out right now, just in the last week. I've seen some collisions in 14U games that would give any Bantam boy the shivers...

I think regardless of whether it's boys or girls, hockey is a collision sport, and concussions are sadly a part of the landscape, checking or no checking.

Personally, I wish they'd let the girls check at 14U and up... No reason not to. They wear the same gear the boys do...

Cheers,

RK

[Musky Buck]

10 4 isn't soccer #1 in concussions ? Often called getting your bell rung. I was standing on the other teams sideline after a rough head on hit in football, when you're 180 going against all those 220 pound linebackers all season is tough. And to think they claim helmets are better today then they were I'm kinda wondering about that, they are so much lighter so it seems some, I don't know, what I see a lot in sports at the high school level is a wider gap in ability out there, some get pushed into joining and they're years behind the others, they get into football or hockey or whatever for fun and they realize when they're a punching bag it isn't fun. It isn't just those kids though, it's any kid. Like RK said ask Sydney crosby, Pierre Marc Bouchard I believe, definitely Savard from the Bruins, take care of those kids and err on the side of caution. I think a person would rather have a major bone bruise then a concussion, can't visually see the injury(concussion) so sometimes you take some sissy comments unfortunately like I did, but you bet Friday night the next week right back out there and lucky for me Detroit Lakes had all-state linebackers to go at .

[fishing tech]

Crosby is out for the next 2 games after taking a hit against Boston. He passed the base line test but he said he just doesn't feel right.

[KrabbyPatties]

Wow. I know this topic is a little old, but it looks like there are a lot of concussions out there in kids' hockey! Do any of you hockey parents have kids who DIDN'T get concussions? My son is a first year squirt, and the above posts are making me wonder how good hockey is for kids at all!

[Bear55]

Wow. I know this topic is a little old, but it looks like there are a lot of concussions out there in kids' hockey! Do any of you hockey parents have kids who DIDN'T get concussions? My son is a first year squirt, and the above posts are making me wonder how good hockey is for kids at all!

A good question KP. Honest all my years growing up (80's-90's) playing hockey I don't remember any consusions, although I am sure some were overlooked. I know plenty of guys that got knocked a little silly but no one ever had an concussion symptoms, although they could have had them and kept their mouth shut.

This is just my observation but back in the day there was checking from behind, it just didn't seem to happen near as much as it happens today. Now if you factor in the kids may be bigger and going faster and a kind of big hit mentality there is some danger out there.

[fishing tech]

Back then there was checking from mites on up. You need to teach your players how to check and take a check starting in mites. Start with going through the hands, to rubbing them out, to shoulder to shoulder and so on. Sticks on the ice when checking!!!. This keeps the elbows down and reduces the chance of head contact. Starting at a young age and teaches good habits and should help versus waiting until they are 11 or 12 and all they wanting to do is cream someone.

[hockeybc69]

Great points fishingtech. Now try and convince MN hockey to repeal what they changed last year by removing checking from Peewees. Now they are 14/15 when they experience their first full contact hockey. I dont like it one bit....

Hey Bear,

Impossible for me to remember if checking from behind was prevelent or not. Just too long ago for me to recall.

But since the new rules were put in place on Jan 25th for a major penalty for boarding and checking from behind, there sure have been a lot of calls in my sons games.... Pretty eye opening. Not sure how long its going to take for these kids to learn, but I have witnessed some god awful checking from behind penalities since Jan 25th.

On Jan 26th the opposing team at my sons game had 3 checking from behind majors in the first period alone. One of those had the added 10 minute misconduct. On that check, the kid was down for several minutes. He was hit by not one kid, but 2 kids at the same time and both used their hands to push off upon the hit.

for the sake of argument, the checking from behind though is a bigger worry for other injuries including concussions. And we all are very aware of what the other injuries can be.

PS - my son has been back playing and hasnt had any ill effects. He did take a head contact this weekend and then proceeded to be taken off his feet and hit hte back of his head on the ice..... We quizzed him hard and everything seems good. Thank God....

[hockeybc69]

Oh, Kare11 has a series starting tonight during the 10pm news about the Concussion Discussion.

They have segments each night this week I believe.

[OnAFly]

What coaches really need to do is teach kids that hitting a only part of the game, not what the game is about. It seems like these days, in almost every level, half the players would rather go for that big hit (regardless of legality) than score a goal. It's a little disturbing that some people find more glory in try to hurt others than win the game.

[Bear55]

Hey Bear,

Impossible for me to remember if checking from behind was prevelent or not.

Come to think of it, they probably just didn't call it. I sure as heck remember geting drilled from behind in PeeWees. Broke my collar bone and was out for 8 weeks, no penality on the call. It's been 20 years and I am still looking for that kid, watch your back #16 because Bear has your number.