New guidelines recommend kids who suffer sport-related concussion wait three weeks before returning to competitive sport.
Released by the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) today, the guidelines also recommend children need to symptom-free for 14 days before returning to contact training, after a sport-related concussion.
The Youth and Community Sport Guidelines align with guidelines that have been adopted in the UK and New Zealand, and have been developed along with Sports Medicine Australia, doctors and physiotherapists.
The AIS has also recommended that clubs and schools introduce a concussion officer, to ensure that anyone with concussion follows agreed protocols.
“This multi-national approach to the Youth and Community Sport Guidelines provides all Australians with a clear, consistent, and strong message on how to manage concussion in sport,” said AIS Chief Medical Officer Dr David Hughes AM.
“It’s important to manage all instances of concussion with an abundance of caution and make it clear that a conservative management approach is needed for people aged under 19 who have growing brains and are at risk of prolonged recovery times, as well as for community sport where advanced health care support is often not available.
“The AIS wants everyone involved in sport to remember, when considering an athlete with possible concussion, ‘if in doubt, sit them out’.”
The AIS return to sport protocol for community and youth sport includes;
- Introduction of light exercise after an initial 24-48 hours of relative rest.
- Several checkpoints to be cleared prior to progression.
- Gradual reintroduction of learning and work activities. As with physical activity, cognitive stimulation such as using screens, reading, undertaking learning activities should be gradually introduced after 48 hours.
- At least 14 days symptom free (at rest) before return to contact/collision training. The temporary exacerbation of mild symptoms with exercise is acceptable, as long as the symptoms quickly resolve at the completion of exercise, and as long as the exercise-related symptoms have completely resolved before resumption of contact training.
- A minimum period of 21 days until the resumption of competitive contact/collision sport.
- Consideration of all symptom domains (physical, cognitive, emotional, fatigue, sleep) throughout the recovery process.
- Return to learn and work activities should take priority over return to sport. That is, while graduated return to learn/work activities and sport activities can occur simultaneously, the athlete should not return to full contact sport activities until they have successfully completed a fully return to learn/work activities.
Have your kids ever suffered concussion while playing sport? How long did they wait before returning to competitive play?
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