Mayo doc talks concussions, as fall sports are in full swing

One is bad, two are worse, especially for children

Football is back and that means the discussion of concussions is, as well.

Most of the attention comes at the NFL level, but it may be even more important the younger the person, especially children.

“Kids in general can take longer or require a longer period of time to recover from a concussion than adults,” Dr. Charlie Peters with Mayo Health System in La Crose said. “Early in life a number of development processes are taking place in the brain.”

And while one concussion is bad, two can’t be better.

“What we’ve learned is there are significant consequences that can occur as a result, especially of multiple concussions,” Peters said. “If it’s injured again, shortly thereafter, there can be what’s refereed to is second-impact syndrome, where the brain can sustain an even greater injury, because it hasn’t fully recovered from the first injury.”

He added the attention caused by the NFL controversy of dismissing the issue for decades has led to a trickle-down effect, where kids are finally getting the treatment for concussions they need.