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Health Canada8. February 2023

Do You Know What Helps Heal Head Injuries? Going Back to School!

Upon reviewing the cases of Canadian children and teenagers who suffered from a head injury, researchers have concluded that kids’ recovery speeds up and their risk of symptoms diminishes by going back to school sooner rather than later.

“The earlier a child can return to school with good symptom management strategies and with appropriate academic supports, the better that we think that their recovery will be,” states Christopher Vaughan, a pediatric neuropsychologist at Children’s National Hospital and the study’s lead author. Granting “cognitive rest” to a child after a concussion may lead to more problems.

To test their theory, the researchers have reviewed 1,630 cases of Canadian children aged 5 to 18 diagnosed with a concussion between August 2013 and September 2014. Half of them followed the current guidance, receiving “cognitive rest” and returning gradually to school. As for the other half, they returned to school sooner and missed zero to two days of school on average.  Checked on after a week, two weeks, and four weeks, children showed fewer symptoms among the 8 to 12 years old – including headache, nausea, and dizziness – two weeks post-concussion. Resuming education sooner rather than later “may directly or indirectly promote faster recovery” possibly due to social factors, reduced stress from missing less school, or observance of routines already in place and physical activities.

Source:
Washington Post

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