Climbing trees is a fantastic part of life for kids in New Zealand. It teaches them balance, coordination and bravery. However sometimes they can and do fall.
What do you do if your child falls out of a tree and suffers from a concussion or Mild Traumatic Brain Injury?
You need to go straight to accident and emergency for assessment or to your GP if the initial symptoms are less severe.
Then come as quickly as possible to see our Concussion Recovery Team at City Osteopaths. We have experts in the assessment and treatment of concussion. Early diagnosis and the right advice is key to you or your child's recovery and reducing the likleyhood of ongoing concussion symptoms. Learn more about how our Concussion Recovery team can help you here.
Recently we saw a ten year old boy who loves climbing trees. He swung in a tree and hit his head, causing a loss of consciousness of around ten minutes and resulting in a fortnight off school.
Four weeks later he was still suffering from the concussion so came up from the South Island to our practice. On doing our head injury questionnaire, it showed his behaviour was very difficult and he was suffering constant headaches of 8 or 9/10 severity. He had reduced attention span, impaired comprehension, dizziness and angry outbursts all 7-9/10 in severity. This is what we did to help him recover:
He had two gentle osteopathic treatments, five days apart.
He had two 60 minute Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy sessions each day for the seven days (14 in total).
By the Wednesday (third day of treatment) his headaches were down to a 6/10 and his mother reported his behaviour was improving
By Saturday his headaches were 2 or 3/10.
On the final/seventh day he re-did our head injury questionnaire and had improved on all parameters. His headaches were now 0/10 and his attention span, anxiety, dizziness and angry behaviour were all 0/10 or 2/10
What was really wonderful was that he had returned to his calm, happy, curious self.
I have followed up with his mother now six weeks on and he has not had any headaches at all since the combined Osteopathic and mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Treatment.
Our Hyperbaric chamber is in our Breaker Bay Clinic and our Hyperbaric Technician Ralf Hawley, is trained, skilled and very experienced - he has been running our chambers since 2015.
To access our hyperbaric chamber, simply reach out to our front desk team here, to book your Hyperbaric Medical assessment, followed by your first Hyperbaric chamber session. We’ll then send you forms and helpful information to prepare you for your appointment. During your Hyperbaric Medical, you’ll meet with our Director, Dr Melanie Young, a Registered Osteopath, who will listen carefully to your concerns, walk you through the process, and perform a few routine medical checks. Together, you’ll develop a tailored plan to help you back to health.
At City Osteopaths Healthcare and Concussion Recovery, we also coordinate with your existing concussion care team to ensure you receive the most comprehensive support for optimal recovery.
Some research on HBOT and for Head injury:
“Role of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in Severe Head Injury in Children”
—Journal of Pediatric Neuroscience. 2012 Jan-April 7(1) 4-8
Conclusion: In children with traumatic brain injury, the addition of HBOT significantly improved outcome and quality of life and reduced risk of complications. Patients receiving HBOT were significantly better than the control group with decreased hospital stay, better Glasgow Coma Scale and drastic reduction in disability.
“Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy can improve Post Concussion Syndrome years after Mild Traumatic Brain Injury – Randomised Prospective Trial”
—PLoS One November 2013 10.137/journal.pone 0079995
Conclusion: Convincing results based on a crossover study, demonstrating that HBOT can induce neuroplasticity and significant brain function improvement in mild TBI patients with prolonged Post-Concussion-Syndrome at late chronic stage, years after injury.
Please see our information page here, for more detailed information including the costs and more research. We do provide a discounted Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy fee for children with a head injury on a case by case basis. We look forward to helping you.
