Study Finds Concussions Among Children Are on the Rise

July 26--Brianna Blessing watched six children she was baby-sitting climbing on a spider web jungle gym at the 11th and Pike playground.

The 20-year-old noticed some of the younger ones were having a hard time maintaining their balance.

She sprang into action, climbing the ropes herself to let the children lean on her to keep their balance.

"I would not want anything to happen to these kids," Blessing said. "They could fall. If they would fall and hurt themselves, I would have to call an ambulance to take them to the hospital."

Blessing is an example of what parents and baby sitters should do when taking their children to a playground in light of a recent study that has found an increase in the number of children treated in hospital emergency rooms for head injuries suffered in playground falls.

The conclusion from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention follows its examination of national data on playground injuries of children younger than 14 treated in emergency rooms from 2001 to 2013.

Of the almost 215,000 kids treated on average each year, nearly 10 percent, or 21,000 annually, suffered traumatic brain injuries, including concussions, according to the study released in May.

A concussion is a traumatic injury to the head with symptoms that include headaches, lack of coordination, memory loss, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, ringing in the ears and excessive fatigue.

Only nonfatal injuries were included in the study.

In Berks, pediatricians and emergency room doctors said they are seeing more kids every day coming into their exam rooms and emergency rooms with head injuries, some the result of falling on playgrounds or playing youth sports.

"We typically get about 15 kids in every week with head injuries," said Dr. Cynthia A. Schadder, a Reading Health System pediatrician. "We check them for concussions. We get several every day from falls on the playground and athletics."

Schadder said public awareness about concussions has increased this year after the recent movie "Concussion," starring Will Smith. The movie focuses on the impact of concussions in the NFL.

She said that if parents suspect their son or daughter has a concussion, they should take the child to a doctor.

"There is no fault in being overly cautious," she said.

Dr. Charles F. Barbera, chairman of emergency services at Reading Hospital, said the emergency room staff sees more kids during the summer months for head injuries because there are more outdoor activities going on.

"Our volumes are way up in the trauma center in the summer," Barbera said, noting that more parents are taking their kids to the emergency room to check for concussions than ever before.

"There is a lot more awareness today of concussions from the NFL," Barbera said. "Before, when people fell on the playground, people didn't think too much about it.

"We have about 15 kids coming in a week. When the weather gets warmer, we tend to have more calls about falls."

Barbera said 80 percent of the children with head injuries will get better within a week.

Barbera advised parents to make sure their children are supervised at playgrounds to guard against falls.

"Make sure they are not jumping off the swings," he said.

Barbera said the best advice for a fall that does not appear serious is to put ice on the head and take Tylenol or Motrin and rest.

But if the child shows symptoms such as vomiting, memory lapses and feeling disoriented, the child should be seen by a doctor immediately.

He said in most cases the child should get better in about a week. If not, he said, the child should refrain from activities and continue to be monitored by a physician.

Dr. Jeffrey A. Zlotnick, a Penn State Health St. Joseph hospital family physician trained in sports medicine, said there are tests that measure reaction time and memory to determine if a child has a concussion.

Zlotnick said children who suffer head injuries are more sensitive to light and will have trouble playing video games.

A child with a concussion should not return to participation in sports or playing outside until cleared by a doctor, he said. If a child who has not fully recovered from a concussion suffers another head injury, he said, the results could be catastrophic.

Zlotnick suggested concussions suffered by children are under-reported, pointing to a May 31 study published in the American Medical Association's pediatrics journal.

Researchers from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia concluded in the study that 82 percent of the children who suffered their first concussion were treated in a pediatrician's office. The study reported that 12 percent were diagnosed in the emergency room, and 5 percent were diagnosed by a specialist.

Only children treated in an emergency room were counted in the CDC study.

Doctors report that most of the more serious injuries they see with kids occur during a team sport such as soccer, football or baseball.

On a recent afternoon, Timothy Doyle, 14, was on the soccer field at 14th and Greenwich streets playing in the Reading Recreation Commission Soccer Academy.

He had suffered a concussion in April 2013 during a bicycle collision in his West Reading neighborhood.

"I was racing downhill without a helmet, and I collided with a tree," Timothy recalled during a break in soccer practice.

Timothy's concussion has healed. At the practice, he was focused on the proper technique to head the soccer ball.

Coach Kevin Devera, the commission's sports program manager, provided the team with instructions on heading the ball with the forehead to avoid injuries.

Back at the playground, Blessing was still watching the children play when her father, Nevin Graham, 45, stopped by.

Graham complimented his daughter for watching the children so intently.

"She knows all about concussions," Graham said. "I had three concussions in my life from playing ice hockey."

Graham said one of his concussions was so bad that he had to miss a week of school.

"My daughter knows all about what can happen," Graham said. "She knows very well that she has to keep an eye on the kids."

Holly Herman -- Reporter

Reporter Holly Herman is a general assignment reporter for the Reading Eagle.

Phone: 610-371-5029

Email: hherman@readingeagle.com

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