During cheerleading practice in April, Jana Duey's sixth grade daughter, Karter, sustained a concussion when she fell several feet headfirst onto a gym floor mat. Days after, Karter still had a headache, dizziness, and sensitivity to light and noise. Karter rested for a week and a half at home in Centennial, Colorado, then returned to school when her concussion symptoms were tolerable — initially for just half-days and with accommodations allowing her to do schoolwork on paper instead of a screen and take extra time to get to and from classes.
Karter went to the nurse's office when she had a headache, Duey said. She began physical therapy to rehab her neck and regain her balance after the accident left her unsteady on her feet. After children get concussions, a top concern for them and their parents or caregivers is when they can go back to sports, said Julie Wilson, Karter's doctor and a co-director of the Concussion Program at Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora.
Returning to school as quickly as possible, with appropriate support, and getting light exercise that doesn't pose a head injury risk are important first steps in concussion recovery, and in line with the latest research. "It's really important to get children and teens back to their usual daily activities as soon as possible, and as soon as they can tolerate them," Wilson said. In August, the Colorado Department of Education updated guidelines dispelling common myths about concussions, such as a loss of consc.