Kids-Sport and Head Trauma

My son is now fourteen years old and is involved in an extreme sport, skateboarding. His goal is to someday compete professionally, travel and make it to the x-games. He is dedicated to his talent and skates everyday, he also takes skateboarding lessons to encourage himself to push past fear and land some amazing tricks which he may not have tried on his own. Both at lessons and at home we encourage him to practice safely and to know his limits. However, when it comes to sports anything can and will happen. He wears a helmet and pads while at lessons but when out of sight of mom he sometimes rides with out one.

Throughout his short skateboarding career he has had scrapes, bruises, “strawberries”, sprains and recently a blow to the head. He skates rails, 14-20 feet bowls, benches and there is not a gravity defying act he will not try. So with that, accidents happen and although accidents are far and few this last one was alarming. My son was skating a rainbow rail, which is a curved piece of metal shaped in a rainbow, he had landed this trick numerous times but for some reason something went wrong and he fell face first onto the cement. Although not high off the ground, the momentum and speed played a huge factor in how hard his face and body hit the ground. He knocked the wind out of himself and went to rest and gather his thoughts. He appeared fine, yet shortly after the incident he started to feel sick, tired and his vision became blurry. It was then we realized he was not snapping back from the fall.

We took him to Urgent Care and right away they took him into a room and started checking him out. They gave him excellent care and ordered x-rays for his head, upper body and shoulder. By now his head and face were throbbing, his neck was stiff and his jaw and body was showing signs of bruising. Shortly after, the x-rays came back and nothing was broken but head trauma was suspected. They call it a closed head injury because you can not see what is going on inside your head. Unlike injuries to your extremities where you may see bleeding, broken bones or other physical signs of injury your head is enclosed and all kinds of things can be going on in there and it can be potentially deadly.

In my sons case after several hours of observation and clear instruction on how to care for him he was released and sent home. For 24-48 hours I was required to check him and his responses to ensure his cognitive abilities where functioning correctly and that he was not developing further complications such as; concussion, brain swelling or bleeding in the head. He ended up very sore and battered but his head injury ended up being more of a scare than life treating thanks to his helmet absorbing the majority of the blow.

With resent celebrities and my own son’s incident I wanted to remind parents of the importance of protecting your child from head trauma during sports. Always require them to wear a helmet and if they hit their head or sustain any form of jarring to their head please look for the signs of trauma and have your physician check them out to make sure there are no problems as a result.

What signs to look for with Head Trauma Injury:

· Confusion or change in alertness
· Lethargy or Sleepiness
· Loss of memory for events before or after the injury
· Headache
· Nausea or vomiting
· Repeatedly saying the same thing or asking the same questions over and over (“Perseveration”)
· Loss of balance or coordination
· Trouble concentrating
· Seizure
· Irritability
· Insomnia
· Tearfulness, crying or emotional ups and downs

If your child becomes unconscious

Do not try and move him. Try and keep his head stable and wait for paramedics. Spinal cord injury could be present

Get Help, Call 911

If your child begins to vomit or have a seizure remain clam and stabilize head and roll them over to their side to prevent choking.

If your child is conscious:

Talk calmly to your child and encourage him to remain calm.

Call for help, 911

If they are bleeding apply bandage on wounds

If head is bleeding apply a dressing around head but do not clean wound. This may further damage the injury. (fractures, further trauma to brain)

Do not remove any objects that may have penetrated your child. This object acts as a plug and removing it can be more devastating then leaving it in for the professionals.

Preventing Head Injury:

Wear your helmet at all times !

Inspect Helmets regularly for damage

If a helmet has taken a direct hit, replace helmet since there maybe hairline fractures in the helmet. Another accident, the helmet may not stay together for protection.

Make sure the helmet fits properly and is strapped securely.

Talk with your coach, trainers or review activities to ensure all safety percussions are being met.
Know your limits within your sport and do not take unnecessary risks without proper training and support.

With any sports comes risk but with proper equipment and clear understanding of the activity or sport your son can minimize his risk of receiving a head trauma injury. In the event an incident occurs remain clam and seek medical care. With my own experience the doctors and nurse acted quickly and provided me with the tools necessary to help my son get through his injury.

Article Written by: Sandi Lopez Lilboyblu.com, rights reserved.

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