• UCLA Health
  • myUCLAhealth
  • School of Medicine
UCLA Health

UCLA Health
  • About Us
    • What is UCLA Health?
    • Contact Us
    • Your Feedback
    • Accountable Care Organization
    • Awards & Achievements
    • Careers
    • Careers for Physicians
    • Departments - Administrative
    • Departments - Clinical
    • Giving to UCLA Health
    • Health Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
    • In the Community
    • Industry Relations
    • Innovation
    • Leadership
    • News Releases
    • Price Transparency
    • Social Media
    • #TeamLA
    • 340B Program
    Vital SignsLinked Graphic: Subscribe to Health Newsletters
    • Contact
    • Your Feedback
    • Accountable Care Organization
    • Awards and Achievements
    • Careers
    • Careers for Physicians
    • Departments - Administrative
    • Departments - Clinical
    • Giving to UCLA Health
    • Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
    • Industry Relations
    • Innovation
    • In the Community
    • 340B Program
    • Leadership
    • News Releases
    • Price Transparency
    • Social Media
    • TeamLA
    • Subscribe to UCLA Health Newsletters
  • Conditions & Treatment
    • Health Library
    • Tests & Procedures
    • Drug Interaction Checker
    • Brain & Nervous System
    • Cancer
    • Children's Health
    • Heart Disease
    • Nutrition & Wellness
    • Pregnancy & Newborns
    • Orthopedics
    • Women's Health
    • Video Library
    • Cancer
    • Cardiovascular
    • Chiropractic
    • Cosmetic Surgery
    • Ear, Nose and Throat
    • Gastrointestinal
    • General Healthcare
    • Neurological
    • Obstetrics/Gynecology
    • See all videos...
    Symptom Checker
    • Video Library
  • Locations

    Hospitals

    • Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
    • UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center
    • UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital
    • Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital
    • Institutes and Centers
    • Take a Virtual Tour

    Medical Offices/Clinics

    • Primary Care
    • Specialty Care
    • Immediate Care
    • Emergency Care
    • Outpatient Surgery Centers
    • Community Cancer Care
    • Pediatric Locations
    • Imaging/Radiology
    • Clinical Labs
    • Pharmacies

    Interactive Map

    interactive map

    • Interactive Map
    • UCLA Medical Plazas
    • Locations Coming Soon
    • UCLA Hospitals
    • Take a Virtual Tour
    • Primary Care Practices
    • Specialty Care Practices
    • Immediate Care
    • Emergency Care
    • Pediatric Locations
    • Outpatient Surgery Centers
    • Clinical Labs
    • Pharmacies
    • Other Locations
    • Interactive Map
    • Coming Soon!
  • Medical Services
  • For Patients & Visitors
    • Directions & Parking
    • Appointments
    • Video Visits
    • Medical Chaperones
    • Admissions
    • Preparing For Surgery
    • Patient Services
    • Security & Parking Services
    • Office of the Patient Experience
    • For International Patients
    • Lodging & Nearby Services
    • Around Westwood
    • Gift Shops & Flowers
    • Patient Greeting Cards
    • Coronavirus Resources
    • Log in to myUCLAhealth
    • Billing and Insurance
    • Medical Records
    • Price Transparency
    • Health Encyclopedia
    • Interactive Patient Education Videos (Emmi)
    • FAQs
    • Calendar of Events
    • Secure Email Messages
    • Health Resources
    • Multimedia
    • Download our Apps
    • Doctor on video visit
    • Open Enrollment
    • Visit our Connect Blog
    • Send a Care Compliment
    • Read Health Publications
    • Vital Signs Newsletters
    • Join a Patient and Family Advisory Council
    • Share your Feedback
    • Contact Us
    • Appointments: Call, Click, Come in
    • Video Visits - Telemedicine
    • Medical Chaperones
    • Admissions Information
    • Advance Directive
    • Directions & Parking
    • Patient Services
    • Medical Records
    • myUCLAhealth
    • Smoke-Free
    • Publications
    • Multimedia
    • Health Resources
    • Around Westwood
    • Lodging
    • Preparing For Surgery
    • Patient-focused Technology Council
    • Health Forms
    • End of Life Option Act: Resources & Materials
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Secure Email Messages
    • Gift Shops
    • Patient Greeting Cards
  • For Healthcare Professionals
    • Referring a Patient
    • Continuing Medical Education
    • Ethics Center
    • UCLA HealthLink
    • Physician to Physician Access Line (P2P)
    • David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
    • Clinical Informatics Fellowship
    • Academic Positions
    • Physician Careers
    • UCLA School of Dentistry
    • UCLA School of Nursing
    • Department of Nursing

    Physician Publications

    • Physicians Update
    • Clinical Updates
    • U Magazine
    • Physician to Physician Access Line (P2P)
    • Physician Careers
    • Clinical Informatics Fellowship
    • Flu Resources for Healthcare Professionals
    • Publications
  • Clinical Research
    • All Clinical Trials
    • COVID-19 Clinical Research
  • Find a Provider
  • UCLA Health
  • myUCLAhealth
  • School of Medicine

News Releases

  1. Home
  2. About Us
  3. News Releases

News Releases

Health and Behavior

Most parents likely to follow outdated advice when caring for a child with a concussion, UCLA survey shows

09/05/2016

A new national survey, commissioned by UCLA Health, reveals that a vast majority of parents may be following outdated advice when caring for a child with a concussion, and it could be making their child's symptoms worse.

"This survey really illustrates just how far the pendulum has swung in terms of caring for children with concussions," said Dr. Christopher Giza, a pediatric neurologist and director of the UCLA Steve Tisch BrainSPORT Program. "In the past, there was often a tendency to downplay the significance of concussions. Now some parents go too far the other direction and, despite their best intentions, they can inadvertently complicate their child's recovery."

The survey asked 569 parents nationwide how they would care for a child whose concussion symptoms lasted for more than a week. Among the more surprising results, more than 3 out of 4 parents (77 percent) said they would likely wake their child up throughout the night to check on them.

"Many parents believed they might overlook swelling of the brain if they allowed their child to go to sleep with a concussion," Giza said. "We certainly want a doctor to evaluate the child immediately after injury, but if you're still waking a child up throughout the night more than a week later, you're doing more harm than good."

Giza said doctors evaluate things like mood, memory and energy level to gauge how well a child is recovering from a concussion. All of those factors are dramatically altered if a child is awakened every few hours.

Barb Consiglio/UCLA

Dr. Christopher Giza examines Kennedy Dierk, 14, at the UCLA Steve Tisch BrainSport Clinic. A new survey shows most parents rely on outdated advice when caring for kids with concussions.

"Once a professional has diagnosed your child and determined that there is no further risk, let them sleep," Giza said. "In fact, we encourage sleep very early on because that will help the brain heal faster."

The survey also found that 84 percent of parents said they were likely to make their children refrain from any physical activity. While children should avoid activities that put them at risk for further injury, they should not be sedentary, said Giza, especially a week after injury.

"We certainly don't want them to go back to playing contact sports right away, but gentle aerobic exercise like walking the dog, easy hiking or riding a stationary bicycle is actually good for them," Giza said. "Being active can help children improve their mood, take their mind off their symptoms and restore a sense of normalcy."

In addition to staying active, doctors also recommend letting your child remain social. "Children in general, and teenagers in particular, are most comfortable when they socialize. Isolating them entirely from their friends for weeks at a time brings up a whole new set of issues," Giza said.

The survey found that 64 percent of parents were likely to take away a child's electronic devices, including cell phones, if their concussion symptoms persisted for more than a week. But social isolation can lead to other problems like depression, anxiety and changes in appetite.

"These kids quickly start to worry about keeping up in their classes, losing social status and, if they are athletes, whether they will lose their place on the team," Giza said. "It's important to ease them back into their social circles quickly, and that might mean being a little more permissive when it comes to social media and screen time."

Giza referenced a recent study in which two groups of children with concussions were given different approaches to treatment. One group was told to rest for a few days and then ease back into a normal schedule, the other group was assigned five days of isolation and complete rest.

"Not surprisingly, the group that was told to stay home, avoid screen time and to only report their symptoms, actually reported more symptoms," Giza said.

Though every child is different, most concussion symptoms should subside within two to three weeks. If they don't, you may want to take your child to see a specialist. In the meantime, be sure you're following professional medical advice and avoiding situations that could prolong your child's recovery.

"The idea is to give them that initial rest and protect them from contact risk, but then start easing them back into intellectual, physical and social activity," Giza said. "Those things are all important in the healing process and shouldn't be overlooked."

UCLA Health
Video report produced by UCLA Health.
 

Journalists: Please email or call the UCLA Health Sciences media contact for B-roll, sound bites, web elements and high-resolution still photos.



Media Contact
Elaine Schmidt
310-267-8323 (o) | 310-597-5767 (c)
eschmidt@mednet.ucla.edu



Latest News

Health and Behavior
UCLA shares COVID-19 vaccine information with faculty and staff
01/15/2021
Members of the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Task Force updated faculty and staff on the progress of UCLA Health's vaccination program and to take questions.

Health and Behavior
In lab study, nanoparticle shows promising results for treating severe allergies
01/14/2021
A UCLA research team developed a possible way to impart long-term relief by inducing an active state of immune tolerance.

Health and Behavior
Cancer researchers awarded grant to study genomic alterations in prostate cancer
01/12/2021
Paul Boutros, PhD, Robert Reiter, MD, and Huihui Ye, MD, MS, of the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have received the 2020 Prostate Cancer Foundation Special Challenge Award to help improve the understanding of prostate cancer biology and identify new ways to help prevent, diagnose, prognose and treat lethal prostate cancer.

Health and Behavior
UCLA scientists develop method to more efficiently isolate and identify rare T cells
01/11/2021
Scientists from the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have developed a technique that will enable researchers to more efficiently isolate and identify rare T cells that are capable of targeting viruses, cancer and other diseases.

Health and Behavior
MRI frequently underestimates tumor size in prostate cancer
01/07/2021
Research brief: Improving imaging processes will lead to more successful treatments and help reduce morbidity in men with the disease.

Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube LinkedInWeibo
UCLA Health hospitals ranked best hospitals by U.S. News & World Report
  • UCLA Health
  • Find a Doctor
  • School of Medicine
  • School of Nursing
  • UCLA Campus
  • Directory
  • Newsroom
  • Subscribe
  • Patient Stories
  • Giving
  • Careers
  • Volunteer
  • International Services
  • Privacy Practices
  • Nondiscrimination
  • Billing
  • Health Plans
  • Emergency
  • Report Broken Links
  • Terms of Use
  • 1-310-825-2631
  • Maps & Directions
  • Contact Us
  • Your Feedback
  • Report Misconduct
  • Get Social
  • Sitemap

Sign in to myUCLAhealth

Learn more about myUCLAhealth