Maggie McKay (Host): As a parent, the prospect of your child suffering a concussion is frightening. So today, we're going to find out what the signs are of a concussion and the symptoms and more with Dr. Vanessa Lalley-Demong, Family Medicine and Sports Medicine physician.

Welcome to St. Joseph's Health MedCast, a podcast from St. Joseph's Health. I'm your host, Maggie McKay. Thank you so much for joining us today, Dr. Lalley.

Dr. Vanessa Lalley-Demong: Thank you for having me.

Host: Well, let's start with, are children who are involved in sports more likely than adults to get concussions?

Dr. Vanessa Lalley-Demong: I really think that every case is really individualized. And yes, adults are just as likely as children to sustain concussions. However, children are a little unique in the fact that their body is still developing. And so, they might not have the same muscular control that an adult has that would help prevent injuries such as whiplash injuries, and that can lead to concussion-type symptoms. So, children are still developing, their brains are still developing, and they might not have the same kind of muscular control that an adult has.

Host: Are there certain sports where concussions are more likely to occur?

Dr. Vanessa Lalley-Demong: Typically, most people think about the collision and contact sports. So, collision sport would be something like football or boxing, and contact sports are more like basketball or lacrosse as being high with concussion rates. But we certainly do have athletes assisting concussions and non-contact sports such as track and field or rowing. And unfortunately, cheerleading has a really high incidence of concussions.

Host: How do you get a concussion rowing?

Dr. Vanessa Lalley-Demong: When you run into something.

Host: Oh, the boat? Oh, my goodness. Maybe pick another sport, right?

Dr. Vanessa Lalley-Demong: Or don't run into things.

Host: Yes, exactly. How does a parent know if their child has a concussion? What are the signs and symptoms?

Dr. Vanessa Lalley-Demong: So, every parent knows their child best. And if you see a change in your child, I think you should be suspicious. Typically, some of the signs and symptoms that we're looking out for are headaches that are different, if your child has headaches that are different than your kid's normal headaches, or headaches that are persistent, meaning that they're occurring almost on an everyday basis. If your child's even a little more irritable than usual or just kind of out of it and glazy, wanting to sleep more, even signs and symptoms of having trouble focusing or concentrating, some brain fog-type symptoms. Oftentimes the lights or loud noise might bother someone who has a concussion. So if you notice a change in your child, I think you at least need to be suspicious.

Host: And how are they treated, concussions?

Dr. Vanessa Lalley-Demong: The biggest thing is removing that child or adult from an activity that could put them at risk for sustaining another concussion. So basically, taking them out of their sport for that period of time, the immediate period of time. And then, we are often assessing both symptoms and then we often do cognitive type of assessments, so like memory recall or having to think and concentrate on counting numbers backwards, as well as some balance testing. So, those are like the initial tests that are done. And in terms of treatment, a lot of it is really just rest. Concussions occur at the microscopic or cellular level of the brain. And so, imaging or tests to look at, you know, pictures of the brain are not necessarily helpful in determining whether someone has a concussion or not.

Host: Dr. Lalley, is rehab necessary?

Dr. Vanessa Lalley-Demong: So, rehab looks like a couple different things. For some people rehab looks like retraining your eyes if your eyes are having issues from a concussion. Sometimes people have a hard time tracking with their eyes or being able to focus with our eyes, and sometimes doing some eye rehab is necessary. Sometimes doing some balance training is necessary. And sometimes doing some physical therapy to help with some muscular issues or neck issues that might be due to the injury is necessary. But really, the rehab is looking at how a student athlete returns to school and returns to their activity through a return-to-play progression. And that looks like very light activity to start with, as well as making sure the child can sustain in the classroom, and then progressing through more intensive activity. The last step of that progression is like contact activity in a practice session.

Host: Why are multiple concussions dangerous?

Dr. Vanessa Lalley-Demong: That's a great question. And I'm sure that people have seen in the news how certain athletes who have sustained many concussions have long-term neurologic issues, long-term issues with mental health, with memory. So, multiple concussions are thought to contribute to some of those complications.

Host: Dr. Lalley, in closing, is there anything else you'd like to add that we didn't cover?

Dr. Vanessa Lalley-Demong: Yeah. As a parent or a coach or someone in the community, if you have any concern that your child or a child on that team has a concussion, take them out. So when in doubt, take them out and have them assessed by a medical professional.

Host: This has been so informative. Thank you so much for your time.

Dr. Vanessa Lalley-Demong: Yeah, thank you for bringing light to this really important discussion.

Host: It is crucial, right? Again, that's Dr. Vanessa Lalley-Demong. Talk to your primary care doctor immediately or take your child to urgent care if you suspect a concussion. To find out more, please visit sjhsyr.org. That's sjhsyr.org. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out our entire podcast library for topics of interest to you. I'm Maggie McKay. Thanks for listening to St. Joseph's Health MedCast from St. Joseph's Health.