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Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staffRest is the best recovery technique. Healing takes time. For headaches, use acetaminophen (Tylenol, others). Don't take aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others) and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), as these medications can increase the risk of bleeding.
If you or your child sustained a concussion while playing competitive sports, ask your doctor or your child's sideline doctor when it is safe to return to play. Resuming sports too soon increases the risk of a second concussion and of lasting, potentially fatal brain injury.
No one should return to play or vigorous activity while signs or symptoms of a concussion are present. If signs or symptoms lasted 15 minutes or longer or included loss of consciousness or amnesia, it's not safe to return to play for at least one week.
- Minor head injury. American Academy of Pediatrics. http://www.aap.org/publiced/BR_HeadInjury.htm. Accessed Feb. 12, 2009.
- Heegaard WG, et al. System injuries. In: Marx JA, et al., eds. Marx: Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 6th ed. St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby; 2006:349.
- Concussion. http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec06/ch087/ch087c.html. Accessed Jan. 15, 2009.
- Evans RW. Concussion and mild traumatic brain injury. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 15, 2009.
- Living with brain injury. Brain Injury Association of America. http://www.biausa.org/education.htm#concussion. Accessed Feb. 15, 2009.
- Evans RW, et al. Traumatic disorders. In: Goetz GD. Textbook of Clinical Neurology. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: W.B. Saunders; 2007:1185.
- Concussion. American Association of Neurological Surgeons. http://www.neurosurgerytoday.org/what/patient_e/concussion.asp. Accessed Jan. 15, 2009.
- DePompolo RW (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Feb. 3, 2009.
