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Got A Young Athlete? Traumatic Brain Injuries Have Sharply Increased
More kids are suffering traumatic brain injuries while playing sports or riding bikes. Be sure they wear a helmet.
In the last eight years, traumatic brain injuries among children have risen a whopping 60%.
According to WebMD, the Centers for Disease Control reported this week that more than 248,000 young athletes landed in emergency rooms for concussions and similar injuries in 2009, an increase of 60% since 2001. The athletic and recreational activities most likely to lead to head injury hospital visits were bicycling, football, playground activities, basketball, and soccer. Most of those getting treated for such injuries were boys between the ages of 10 and 19.
Babies and young children were most likely to sustain concussions during activities like riding bikes or playing on the playground.
The website Kids Health states that concussions can be medical emergencies, depending on their severity: “Anyone with a head injury — especially kids — should get checked by a doctor. Someone who is knocked unconscious should get care in the emergency room as soon as possible.”
If your child has a serious fall or collision, you should look for the following signs, which may appear within a few minutes or even days afterwards:
- Confusion
- Loss of consciousness (even a brief one)
- Memory problems
- Headache
- Pressure in the head
- Nausea, vomiting
- Balance problems or dizziness
- Double or blurry vision
- Sensitivity to light or noise
- Inattentiveness
Some of the best ways to prevent traumatic brain injuries among children are to make sure they wear their seatbelts, and that they wear properly fitted helmets when riding bikes or playing sports. To learn the right way to fit a bike helmet, visit the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.
Photo credit: NHTSA
Don’t miss Babble’s 23 Things to Know About Biking with Your Children!
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2 Comments
Shandeigh commented on Oct 07 11 at 6:58 pmOne of the reasons for this is the mandatory bike helmet laws. The helmet gives them a false sense of security and they take risks that they wouldn’t take if they weren’t wearing a helmet. Parents need to educate their kids that the helmet is not a replacement for common sense and that if they hit their head they will still be hurt.
Mike Peterson commented on Oct 08 11 at 7:48 amRead the report again. Injuries have NOT increased. Reports of injuries have increased. The CDC specifically notes that, while there has been a huge increase in the number of kids coming to ERs because of potential brain injury, there has been no increase of the number of kids being hospitalized — which means that parents and coaches are more apt to have a kid checked after a head injury. But the kids are being treated and released because the injuries are routine.
This is good — especially since it means those kids will likely sit out for a time, so that minor injuries can heal. But it is not an increase in injuries. It’s an increase in good care by coaches and parents.
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