Concussion in Children (mini) Rugby

Hungrycol

Sorry if this type of discussion has been done to death but I'm looking for some advice.

I have a Rugby mad 9 y.o. who banged his head playing in a rugby match two weeks ago. He was wearing a scrum cap* so the bang was pretty big cos his head as sore and ached when he opened and closed his jaw afterwards. He held his head at the time of the incident, no crying, got up after a few seconds and played on.

I only became aware of the severity of it when he told me while scoffing crisps in the clubhouse after the match. No obvious signs of concussion and he's his usual self. I kept him off training for last week and this week, just precautionary much to his disdain and tears. I told him even the pros aren't allowed contact play or training after a bang to the head, this reasoning doesn’t work with him.

I was going to let him go back as normal on Sunday after the rest up but he’s just had another bang to the head (sore with lump) in the school yard… I don’t want to be over protective of every scrape and bump he gets and want to let him play/train but I want to know when to draw the line between usual playground antics, nothing to worry about, and hits to the head that should be rested in all cases for children.

*I know scrum caps don't prevent concussion

sydthebeat

theres a few things here

first off is the understanding that not every knock to the head is a concussion, but the second thing is 'if in doubt, sit it out'

Mod edit: Medical advice removed, see mod warning in following post for all other contributions.

Zzippy

Hungrycol wrote: »

Sorry if this type of discussion has been done to death but I'm looking for some advice.

I have a Rugby mad 9 y.o. who banged his head playing in a rugby match two weeks ago. He was wearing a scrum cap* so the bang was pretty big cos his head as sore and ached when he opened and closed his jaw afterwards. He held his head at the time of the incident, no crying, got up after a few seconds and played on.

I only became aware of the severity of it when he told me while scoffing crisps in the clubhouse after the match. No obvious signs of concussion and he's his usual self. I kept him off training for last week and this week, just precautionary much to his disdain and tears. I told him even the pros aren't allowed contact play or training after a bang to the head, this reasoning doesn’t work with him.

I was going to let him go back as normal on Sunday after the rest up but he’s just had another bang to the head (sore with lump) in the school yard… I don’t want to be over protective of every scrape and bump he gets and want to let him play/train but I want to know when to draw the line between usual playground antics, nothing to worry about, and hits to the head that should be rested in all cases for children.

*I know scrum caps don't prevent concussion

I got a load of bumps to the head growing up and I'm fine. I swear!

Mod: Seriously though, boards does not allow medical evidence to be posted. Your best advice is to consult a medical professional if you are worried.

I'll leave this thread open for general discussion of concussion in children, but absolutely no medical advice is to be posted. Thread will be closed if that happens.

Hungrycol

ahh Jaysus, im not looking for medical advice, google gives me everything I need to know .

Just what parents generally do, i.e. am I over over reacting to it? Kids are mollycoddled, over protected and "my little Johnny can do no wrong" nowadays but want to know when mollycoddling and when not. Obviously bangs are the nature of sport and there are concussion protocols.

The Lost Sheep

Hungrycol wrote: »

ahh Jaysus, im not looking for medical advice, google gives me everything I need to know .

Just what parents generally do, i.e. am I over over reacting to it? Kids are mollycoddled, over protected and "my little Johnny can do no wrong" nowadays but want to know when mollycoddling and when not. Obviously bangs are the nature of sport and there are concussion protocols.

If you think they received a knock. Dont let them play. Take them to a doc. Concussion for under 18s means a 23 day period without playing rugby
http://www.irishrugby.ie/concussion
Speaking as coach, referee. No you are not over reacting. I would agree with sydthebeat 'if in doubt, sit it out'
Yes some kids are mollycoddled etc but its a potential brain injury so take them to a doc and find out for sure. Have them follow RTP protocols and see again in a while when it may be suitable to let them back playing

CatFromHue

a bang on the head leaving a bruise and a concussion are two very different things. I got plenty of bangs and bruises on the head but not concussion when I used to play.

go to a doc and let them decide what to do.

Morf

Firstly I would say that getting quiet familiar with the information supplied by IRFU and World Rugby on concussion would be good.

It is honest and doesn't over or under play the symptoms in my opinion.

Once you're in the know make an informed decision and conservatism isn't the worst policy here either.

zinzan

What did his coaches say at the time of the incident? They should have advised you as to what happened.
Only a doctor can give you medical advice. Unfortunately there are very few in this country with any knowledge of concussion, never mind paediatric concussion. As has been said before - if in doubt sit it out. It really doesn't matter what your child thinks - even professional players don't have a choice, they have to do as they are told essentially!
Just as an add on- there is no evidence to suggest scrum caps make any difference when it comes to concussion - it's not necessarily impact to the head that causes it - it is the brain suffering an impact which can occur with rotational or whiplash type injuries just as easily. There's an interesting video the IRFU us in their training courses of Rob Kearney suffering a concussion from falling backwards with no obvious impact to the head, but when he gets up he is completely out of it.

The IRFU guidelines are linked in a post above and well worth a look. There's also some online tutorials given by World rugby that are no harm to have a look at - http://playerwelfare.worldrugby.org/?documentid=158

Chiparus

Does not sound like concussion but you need to get a healthcare professional to see him.
The IRFU have a great site for this.
http://www.irishrugby.ie/concussion

shoutman

Chiparus wrote: »

Does not sound like concussion but you need to get a healthcare professional to see him.
The IRFU have a great site for this.
http://www.irishrugby.ie/concussion

The last page of this: http://www.irishrugby.ie/downloads/IRFU-Guide-to-Concussion.pdf is handy for coachs/parents/ref's to print off and have on them during games.

Another thing I would say as a parent/coach is not to leave it up to the ref/opposition, when it comes to head injuries - if you notice a a player with any signs of concussion, or someone has taken a knock to the head that may have been missed by the ref/coach - say it to them.
At this stage practically everyone is well versed to the danger of "second hit syndrome" or whatever the technical term is for it.

Morf

shoutman wrote: »

Another thing I would say as a parent/coach is not to leave it up to the ref/opposition, when it comes to head injuries - if you notice a a player with any signs of concussion, or someone has taken a knock to the head that may have been missed by the ref/coach - say it to them.
At this stage practically everyone is well versed to the danger of "second hit syndrome" or whatever the technical term is for it.

I tried this as a bystander/linesman last season with youth games.

I found the ref will generally ignore you unless the player is still down/shows visible signs - I gather this is because it was being called against opposition players by coaches/parents with the hope they would be removed from play for safety reasons.

Tim Robbins

Scrum caps do nothing to prevent concussion. They help cauliflower ears happening to lads in the second row. I don't know why they sell them to kids as if anything they confuse parents into thinking they provide some sort of protection which they don't.

The Lost Sheep

Tim Robbins wrote: »

Scrum caps do nothing to prevent concussion. They help cauliflower ears happening to lads in the second row. I don't know why they sell them to kids as if anything they confuse parents into thinking they provide some sort of protection which they don't.

Theyre great for preventing nicks/cuts and thats it,
Selling them to kids is fine but parents should know more and be taught they do nothing to prevent concussive injuries and if thats through education progrmmes/coaches or whoever

Tim Robbins

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

Theyre great for preventing nicks/cuts and thats it,
Selling them to kids is fine but parents should know more and be taught they do nothing to prevent concussive injuries and if thats through education progrmmes/coaches or whoever

But there shouldn't be any nicks or cuts near the head at mini level and the head should be well away from that.

irishbucsfan

Some kids just want to wear scrum caps because its what they see on TV, in my experience