Concussion is the Word of the Day

I took the day off from school today to take CED to the doctor. Monday night at her soccer game she ended up taking a ball to the head (she was going for the header, but the ball winged a bit at the end and hit her in the temple), which then knocked her off her feet. She finished playing the game, but complained immediately of a headache. The headache has lasted since then and she has been taking ibuprofen like it's going out of style. I really wasn't going to worry about this as she had no other major symptoms, but then CED went to the nurse at school yesterday complaining about her head hurting after PE class. The nurse then called me at school and basically called me a horrible parent for not taking her to the doctor. Guilt. It's a beautiful thing. So, off to the doctor we went today. To hear what I already knew - it's a very mild concussion and we need to do exactly what we've been doing. Wow. I just paid how much to hear that? All because I felt guilty? Ugh. Next time, I'm sticking to my guns.

I did learn something interesting about concussions today, however. People make them out to be so much worse than they really are. Now, I'm not saying that every person that has suffered from a concussion has not had lasting effects. We have all seen (those of us that are old enough) Muhammad Ali and the effects of constant blows to the head and concussion after concussion. This is not what the doctor is referring to. He was telling me that people who panic about concussions really have nothing to worry about unless there is visible confusion immediately, and even days, after the injury. People who are knocked unconscious are really just fine as long as there is no memory loss or confusion. Even nausea and vomiting isn't something that is very worrisome as long as it's not - say it with me - accompanied by confusion and memory loss. Now this is not to say that repeated concussions are okay, because they're certainly not. But I am certainly not going to be guilted into going to the doctor if this ever happens again. What we were doing - rest, sleep, ibuprofen - is exactly what the doctor has prescribed.