Waching daily Jan 30 2018

[APPLAUSE] >>> YOU KNOW, IF YOU ARE ON A

TEAM, OR JUST AS A HOBBY, IT IS A GREAT WAY TO GET EXERCISE.

>> BUT IF YOU GET INJURED, IT CAN BE DANGEROUS.

ONE OF FIVE HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETES WILL SUSTAINED A

CONCUSSION DURING THE SEASON.

WHEN IT COMES TO THESE KIND OF INJURIES, KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.

AFTER A HIGH IMPACT INJURY, IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW THE SIGNS

OF A CONCUSSION EVEN IF YOUR CHILD FEELS OKAY.

DELMARVALIFE'S SYDNEY WHITFIELD HEADS TO THE NEMOURS ALFRED I.

DU PONT HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN TO GET THE FACTS ARE

CONCUSSIONS.

>> Sydney: IT WAS JUST LAST YEAR WITH A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT

PAIGE TOOK A DEVASTATING BLOW DURING A VOLLEYBALL GAME.

>> Woman: I WAS IN THE SINNERS I WAS GOING FOR A BALL THAT WAS

ORIGINALLY MINE.

ANOTHER TEAMMATE WENT I GET IT AND I CALLED HER OFF, BUT SHE

WASN'T LISTENING.

SO I SLEPT ON THE FLOOR, AND I WENT AND SLAMMED BACK AND I

SLAMMED BACK LIKE THIS I SMACKED MY HEAD ON THE FLOOR

AND APPARENTLY, THE STORIES THAT ARE TOLD TO ME, THEY COULD

HEAR IT FROM THE BLEACHER HOW HARD I HAD.

>> AFTER SEVERAL TEST, SHE REALIZED SHE HAD A CONCUSSION

AND THEN MET DOCTOR MARK REEDER, A PEDIATRIC SPORTS

MEDICINE EXPERT AT NEMOURS ALFRED I. DU PONT HOSPITAL FOR

CHILDREN.

IT WAS HIS KNOWLEDGE AND HELPED HER MOM GET THROUGH THE TRAUMA.

>> Woman: FROM THE TIME HE CAME IN, ALL THE GIRLS IN THE

EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT, THEY MADE US FEEL COMFORTABLE, LIKE

FAMILY AND CARED ABOUT HER AND HER TREATMENT.

IT KIND OF PUT IN EAST THAT I KNEW SHE WAS IN GOOD HANDS.

>> FROM THERE IS WHERE HER TREATMENT BEGAN.

AND JUST LIKE IT HAPPENED TO HER, DOCTOR ROODER SAID ANYBODY

IS CAPABLE OF GETTING A CONCUSSION, NO MATTER WHAT THE

SPORT.

>> Man: WE SEE KIDS OF ALL SPORTS GET CONCUSSIONS.

YOU WOULD THINK, CERTAINLY, THE MORE COMMON SPORTS TO GET

CONCUSSIONS, WHICH IS TRUE LIKE FOOTBALL AND SOCCER AND

BASKETBALL, WHICH ARE CONTACT AND COLLISION SPORTS.

HOWEVER, I DID SEE A SWIMMER RECENTLY WHO HAD A CONCUSSION

WHO GOT ACCIDENTALLY KICKED IN THE HEAD.

YOU DON'T EXPECT TO GET A CONCUSSION FROM SWIMMING, BUT

WE SEE THAT AS WELL.

WE SEE CHEERLEADERS GET CONCUSSIONS, TOO.

CHEERLEADING INJURIES, ESPECIALLY NECK AND HEAD

INJURIES ARE UNFORTUNATELY VERY HIGHS WE DO HAVE A LOT OF

CONCUSSIONS WITH THAT.

SO I WOULD SAY ANY ATHLETE IN ANY SPORT COULD GET A

CONCUSSION.

>> BECAUSE A CONCUSSION IS NOT ABOUT THE TYPE OF SPORT YOUR

CHILD PLACE BUT THE AMOUNT OF HEAD TRAUMA THEY EXPERIENCED.

ANY DIRECT OR INDIRECT INJURY TO THE HEAD THAT CAUSES A

DYSFUNCTION IN BRAIN FUNCTION, BASICALLY.

SO, WE USE OUR BRAIN FOR MANY TASKS THROUGHOUT THE DAY.

READING, LEARNING, ESPECIALLY IN KIDS BECAUSE THEY ARE

TYPICALLY IN SCHOOL.

SO WHAT REALLY MANIFESTS WITHIN A DAY OR TWO AFTER A DIRECT OR

INDIRECT INJURY ARE SYMPTOMS WHICH CAN INCLUDE HEADACHES,

FEELING FOGGY, POOR MEMORY, IRRITABILITY, POOR SLEEP,

CONFUSION.

THERE ARE A HOST OF SYMPTOMS THAT CAN DEVELOP AFTER AN

INJURY.

>> HE SAID RECENT STUDIES EVEN SHOW THE GIRLS TAKE LONGER TO

RECOVER FROM CONCUSSIONS AND BOY.

>> Man: I THINK THE STUDY THE GIRLS TAKE ABOUT TWICE AS LONG

THAN THEIR BOY COUNTERPARTS TO RECOVER FROM A CONCUSSION.

THERE ARE MANY THEORIES BEHIND THAT.

GIRLS ARE MORE FORTHRIGHT AND EXPRESSIVE WITH HER SYMPTOMS,

SO THAT MAY HAVE GIRLS PRESENT A LITTLE BIT SOONER, AS WELL AS

LONGER WITH HER SYMPTOMS.

WHAT WE DO KNOW AFTER PUBERTY IS THAT GIRLS HAVE HIGHER RISKS

OF MOOD DISORDERS, AS WELL AS ANXIETY AND STRESS AND

DEPRESSION THAN THEIR BOY COUNTERPARTS AFTER PUBERTY.

SO AGAIN, THESE ARE SYMPTOMS THAT CAN PROLONG CONCUSSIONS.

ROODER'S PATIENT PAGE DID WHAT SHE COULD.

SHE TRIED TO GRADUALLY RETURN TO HER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES BUT

THE TRANSITION WAS NOT QUITE GRADUAL ENOUGH.

>> Woman: WITH ONE OF MY CLASSES, LIKE MY ENGLISH CLASS,

WE HAD ASSIGNMENT AFTER ASSIGNMENT AND I WAS STRESSED

OUT BECAUSE I COULD NOT GET IT DONE IN TIME.

I AM NOT THE KIND OF PERSON YOU CAN SLACK OFF.

I CAN MAINTAIN MY STRAIGHT A'S, BUT HE SAID YOU HAVE TO STOP

STRESSING BECAUSE IT WILL MAKE YOUR CONCUSSION WORSE AND IT

WILL TAKE LONGER FOR IT.

AFTER A FEW WEEKS, THEY CALL DOCTOR ROODER BECAUSE HER

HEADACHES GOT WORSE.

HE THEN COUNSEL PATIENTS SAID THAT HER STRESS WAS HINDERING

THE CONCUSSION RECOVERY PROCESS AND THAT HER MAIN FOCUS SHOULD

BE TOO GET BETTER.

>> Man: AND I THINK SHE TOOK THAT ADVICE PRETTY WELL,

BECAUSE WHEN I SAW HER AFTER THAT, SHE SAID YOU KNOW, MY

HEADACHE WENT AWAY.

I DID NOT CARE AS MUCH.

AND AGAIN, WITH THE NEW RESEARCH OF GIRLS AND BOYS IN

CONCUSSION RECOVERY, I THOUGHT THAT THAT EXAMPLE REALLY

HIGHLIGHTS WHAT WE SEE IN RESEARCH, AND THAT IS CERTAINLY

WHAT I SEE IN MY PRACTICE, TOO.

I SEE GIRLS RECOVERING LONGER THAN BOYS FOR MANY REASONS.

A LOT OF STRESS AND ANXIETY, AND MOOD DISORDERS, AS WELL,

THAT AFFECT GIRLS MORE THAN BOYS.

>> SO THE BIG LESSON HERE IS TO GIVE IT TIME.

CHANCES ARE YOUR CHILD WON'T RECOVER FROM THIS OVERNIGHT,

BUT YOU CAN AVOID A LENGTHY RECOVERY IF YOU SIMPLY CATCH

THE EARLY SIGNS OF A CONCUSSION.

>> Man: I THINK THAT IT IS REALLY IMPORTANT FOR ALL

ATHLETIC TRAINERS, HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS, STUDENT ATHLETES,

COACHES PERIPHERIES, AND EVEN PARENTS, EVEN IF THERE IS A

SUSPICION OF A CONCUSSION WHETHER IT IS DIRECT OR

INDIRECT OF A HEAD INJURY, AND THEN THE SUBSEQUENT SYMPTOMS OF

HEADACHES AND NOT FEELING RIGHT, CONFUSION, FEELING IN A

FOG, I THINK THE RECOGNITION OF POSSIBLY HAVING A CONCUSSION

SHOULD HAVE A VERY LOW THRESHOLD TO SAYING SOMETHING.

SAYING SOMETHING TO COACH OR TRAINER, YOUR PARENT OR

GUARDIAN THAT, YOU KNOW, I JUST DON'T FEEL RIGHT.

THE ONLY INDICATOR THAT IT MAY BE A CONCUSSION.

>>> NOW, THE NEMOURS TEAM SAID IF YOU HAVE A YOUNG ATHLETE, IT

IS A GOOD IDEA TO HAVE THEIR BRAIN FUNCTION MEASURED BEFORE

AND INJURY.

THEY HAVE A FULL TESTING FUNCTION WHICH YOU CAN LEARN

ABOUT ON A WEBSITE, DELMARVALIFE.com.

>> ALL OF THIS TIME, AND WE DID NOT REALIZE.

>> NO.

IT MAKES YOU THINK OF ALL THE INJURIES YOU HAD WHEN YOU WHERE

A KID.

I KNOW THAT I HAD A FEW TAKE IT.

>> YEAH, IT MAKES YOU WONDER.

>> YOU JUST SHAKE IT OFF AND MOVE ON BUT NOT ANYMORE.