Return To Learn program raising awareness on impact of concussions

Children are almost magnets for accidents. They are growing into their bodies and experience a clumsy and accident-prone phase of life. They bump into things, people, and they fall down. Children and teens who participate in sports tend to be more likely to have some sort of an injury than most other adolescents. One injury that can pack a bit more punch than previously thought is a concussion. Thankfully, the Return To Learn program has been able to shed light on concussion care for students.

Most would assume that concussions would only affect students’ athletic performance. The mantra in the past after an injury was usually, “Can they play?” However, as more research and discovery is made in connection with the brain and how it works it has become more apparent that sports aren’t the only thing that can be effected by a concussion.

Ross Van Amburg is an occupational therapist that works specifically with the western Nebraska region concerning head injuries and other types of learning disabilities related to the brain. Van Amburg explained how a brain injury, such as a concussion, needs to be nursed back to health with time in order to prevent permanent brain damage.

“A concussion can be compared to a broken arm. If a child breaks their arm, you aren’t going to make them pick up things or use that arm until it’s properly healed. Same goes with a concussion. The way your brain works is by focusing on something, by reading, by solving math equations. These are all things that cause the brain to work and if you make a person suffering from a concussion do this too soon, you haven’t given their brain time to heal. It’s just like if you don’t allow a broken arm to heal, it will heal wrong eventually or take too long to heal and have more damage than it started with,” Van Amburg said.

A concussion is serious business, it is a brain injury. Ninety percent of concussions can occur without loss of consciousness. If activity is resumed too quickly that puts the concussed under risk for Second Shock Syndrome. This can occur when the brain experiences a second impact too soon after a first impact. Second shock syndrome can occur up to a few weeks after the initial head injury depending of the severity of that first injury. The result of second shock syndrome differs in every case, however, can effect the injured person severely.

The brain is very delicate. It is floating in liquid inside of the hard skull of the head. This does provide the brain with some protection but if it is jostled it will hit the walls of the skull causing a brain injury. Much like an egg can be scrambled within its own shell, the brain can been damaged within the skull.

“The brain will hit the walls of the skull and that causes connections within the brain to become damaged or stressed. Making it more difficult for the injured to process information or to do anything that requires brain function,” Van Amburg said.

The Return to Learn Program is employed by schools everywhere in order to decrease the likelihood of brain damage. With an emphasis on returning to a classroom environment before a athletic oriented environment, schools can avoid putting students in potentially dangerous situations.

This program emphasizes knowing the signs of a concussion and what to do while a student is recovering from said concussion. After a head injury schools and families should be on the lookout for symptoms of a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and concussions. If a student has difficulty with thinking clearly, concentrating, remembering new information, response time (slow responses), or has reduced academic performance these could be signs of a TBI or concussion. If the student sleeps more or less than usual, is drowsy and fatigued, or can’t seem to fall asleep after a head injury, they should be checked further for a possible TBI. More obvious symptoms include headache, blurred vision, balance problems, dizziness, nausea, sensitivity to light and sound, disorientation and possible vomiting. Emotional symptoms include irritability, sadness, changes in mood, nervousness, anxiety and increased emotional responses to situations.

“It’s important that parents and schools keep an eye out for these symptoms because the sooner it’s discovered the sooner that student can get back on the road to recovery and are less likely to develop brain damage. Especially if their child doesn’t want to watch television or play games or spend time on their phone, those are signs of that inability to focus and those things causing discomfort from a concussion,” Van Amburg said.

Once the student is returning to the classroom it should be gradual. Set amounts of time should be established and then increased as the student recovers and gains the ability to concentrate without discomfort. At home parents should enforce limited activity and rest from activities that can cause unnecessary mental strain.

It is also encouraged that parents, school administration, and medical care be in contact so that the best possible decisions can be made for the child returning to the academic setting.

“Schools are now required to have this program so that they can make sure students have a full recovery, not just a physical one so that they can get back to sports. They have to get back to the classroom before they can return to sports,” Van Amburg said.

More information on concussions and recovering from them can be found on the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Resources http://.dhhs.ne.gov, as well as the Department of Education’s website http://www.education.ne.gov