Concussion Care

At Cook Children's, we know that diagnosing and treating head injuries in children eight years old and above requires special skills, and that's what sets our team apart. Our dedicated teams are here to ensure that your child recovers as quickly and fully as possible.

What is a concussion?

A concussion is a brain injury that causes temporary changes in the way the brain works. Many people think concussions happen when someone is knocked unconscious while playing sports. But concussions can happen without losing consciousness as well.

What causes a concussion?

Most concussions in kids and teens happen while playing sports. The risk is highest for kids who play contact sports like football, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer and field hockey.

What are the symptoms of a concussion?

Signs and symptoms of a concussion include:

Being slow to answer questions
Blurred or double vision
Confusion and saying things that don't make sense
Dizziness, balance problems or trouble walking
Headache
Nausea or vomiting
Not feeling well
Not remembering what happened
Slurred speech

Symptoms of a concussion usually happen right away, but can show up hours or days after an injury. A child or teen with a concussion may:

Have trouble focusing
Have learning or memory problems
Have a headache that gets worse
Have sleep problems
Feel sad, easily upset or angered or nervous

If your child has been diagnosed with a concussion, call your health care provider or go to the ER if your child:

Has a severe headache or one that gets worse
Has a seizure
Passes out
Has other symptoms (such as continued vomiting) that worry you
These could be signs of a serious concussion and your child might need treatment in a hospital.

Concussion testing

If a head injury happens while someone is playing sports, we provide baseline concussion testing. This is when a trained person does a few simple tests after a head injury to help decide if the athlete needs immediate medical care. An athlete who has a head injury must stop playing and see a doctor before returning to play.

Many schools or sports leagues use baseline concussion tests. Baseline testing uses computer programs to test a player's normal brain function. It checks attention, memory and speed of thinking. Doctors compare testing after an injury with baseline results to see how someone is recovering.

ImPACT is an objective tool to support trained health care providers in making sound return-to-activity decisions following concussions. It's a computerized test that measures memory, attention span, visual and verbal problem solving. ImPACT has two primary uses: before the onset of an activity, a baseline test is conducted to measure the athlete's performance baseline. In the event of an injury, a post-injury test is administered and compared to the baseline and/or normative data scores.

These forms of testing are vailable at these locations:

Hurst

Mansfield

Walsh Ranch