Slower Recovery for Kids’ 2nd Concussion

Children who have had a concussion before may take a much longer time to get well after a second concussion, a new study finds. And the more recent the first concussion was, the longer the recovery time. The study included 280 children and young adults who came to a hospital emergency room with concussion symptoms. Their ages ranged from 11 to 22. About 60% were injured playing sports. Researchers kept track of them during recovery. Those who had a prior concussion took about 24 days to recover. That was twice as long as the average of 12 days for other patients. If the earlier concussion was in the last year, recovery took even longer — about 35 days. Average recovery was 28 days for those with 2 or more prior concussions. The journal Pediatrics published the study online. HealthDay News and USA Today wrote about it June 10.