Traumatic brain injuries and concussions are often hard to identify in young children. Chicago children can develop brain trauma in a variety of ways including car accidents, slip and falls, and sporting injuries.
Often parents do not know whether their children should seek medical attention or the extent of their child’s injuries until symptoms arise a long time after an accident.
“You don’t have to lose consciousness or blackout to have a concussion,” one hospital official told WPRI-TV. “Signs of a concussion are that the child’s disoriented, complaining of a headache, feeling nausea or vomiting, having difficulty with their vision, and anything like that.”
The hospital official recommended that parents should have their children medically examined after any sort of head injury to make sure their children are not suffering from any other serious conditions such as a skull fracture or bleeding inside their head.
“It’s really important with kids that play sports that if they do have a concussion they really stay out until they’re completely healed,” the hospital official added. “Because the other thing about concussions, if you have a concussion and then you go back too early and you get another head injury and another concussion it’s far more likely to be a devastating injury.”