Every teen likes to believe they are tough, resilient and incapable of being sidelined. But when it comes to concussions, unfortunately, the opposite is true. Researchers found teens suffered longer and more substantially from the effects of a concussion than either adults or children.
Combine typical teenaged irrepressibility and demanding schedules with an injured brain and parents can find themselves fighting an uphill battle toward their child’s recovery. Especially since teens can take two to three times as long to recover from a concussion as adults. Here are some tips for paving a smoother road – for you and your teen:
Create a Healing Environment
Studies show that cognitive rest (limiting mental stimulation through ceasing activities such as use of media, reading, socializing, loud noise, and bright lights) helps speed concussion recovery. Cognitive rest happens to be the antithesis of normal teen life.
Which is why providing a distraction-free space for your teen to heal is crucial. A bedroom conducive to rest, with darkening blinds, low to no music, and no computers, TV’s, or other screened devices is ideal.
Seek Support
Being left alone in a dark, quiet room with nothing to do for long is not only boring, it can also heighten the risk of depression – a potential side-effect in any concussion. Add an active teen to the mix and you have a recipe for melancholy. Which makes it important to balance physical and emotional needs in your recovery plans for your teen.
Follow the doctor’s instructions for cognitive rest. But ask if it is okay for a friend to stop in for a short visit on occasion. See if your teen can emerge from recovery for a subdued dinner. Offer to read aloud to your teen for brief periods of time.
Support is also important as your teen returns to school. He will likely be glad for the return to ‘normalcy,’ but should ease back into his coursework. Ask your doctor for a return-to-school plan to be given to teachers and administrators. Given the internal nature of the injury, your teen will look healthy, even though he is not. This makes it essential to communicate with your teen’s school, coaches and other extra-curricular leaders.
If you face the challenge of helping a teen recover from a concussion, take comfort in knowing symptoms won’t last forever, that often your teen’s resistance is due to the injury itself, and that others have been in your shoes.
