Concussion Diagnosis and Treatment

Concussion and Brain Trauma Program

Why is it important to treat concussions?

A concussion is a brain injury that can affect all aspects of life, including school performance and sports. It is estimated that approximately 3.8 million concussions happen each year in the United States are sports-and-recreation event–related. Almost half of these injuries go undiagnosed, preventing children from getting the timely care they need.

After early identification, careful evaluation and specialized management, most concussions will resolve on their own. Diagnosis of a concussion is important to allow your child's brain to heal before returning to play and risk causing more damage. Without appropriate care and management, symptoms can last longer, permanent mental and physical disabilities can occur, or even death.

Our team has the specialized training and expertise needed to evaluate your child’s concussion and develop a treatment plan to safely help your child return to play.

Treatment requires ongoing care to help with your child's school and other skills that they will use throughout adulthood. Contact our team especially if

Your child has a new diagnosis of a concussion
You want a second opinion through our Second Opinion Program
Your child has been scheduled for a procedure

What will the Concussion and Brain Trauma Program do for my child?

Our center coordinates care across several specialists including: trauma surgery, pediatric neurology, pediatric neurosurgery, sports medicine and neuropsychology. We strive to enhance the health and prevent longer-term difficulties.

Close follow-up care is essential with our multidisciplinary center to help your family through the entire journey from early treatment through inpatient care and long-term evaluations.

Do you see all types of brain injuries?

While most pediatric brain injuries are mild, there are variations in the definition and diagnosis. Concussion and mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) are the most common, but all forms of head injury can impact your child's physical, cognitive, emotional and social functioning. Our center provides comprehensive care to help families manage symptoms in children with concussions or with more severe traumatic brain injury.

Our center utilizes evidence-based medicine to diagnose, treat and provide follow-up services for children diagnosed with brain injury. We have worked as a team to develop to increase the effectiveness of current management tools and to increase awareness in the community through continued outreach programs.

Treatments

Rest

Resting following a concussion is vital to allow the brain the heal with- no sports, exercise or active play. Both physical and mental rest are very important!

Concussions can affect a child's ability to do schoolwork and it is important that our team work with your school to let them know that your child may need extra time for classwork and homework. For some children, limiting time at school may be required until symptoms improve.