let's see 248,200 CT scans in the ER at $3,000 a pop...about $750 million spent each year on this one med tech alone. Diagnostics must improve FIRST if we want to see health care costs go down. Single payor or not...it DOES NOT MATTER WHO'S PAYING if the tools we have are not cost-effective

When I was growing up, if you got banged up, you went to the doctor or, less frequently, the emergency room only if you broke bones or were bleeding badly. If you head hurt or you were dizzy, you were told to "shake it off" and you will be better in half an hour or so.

Today, we know better. We know that these are concussions and seek medical assistance when they occur.

Net result: more ER visits for childhood injuries.

It's probably cause there are too many kids engaging in the risky activities they saw on Jackass or on Youtube videos. Monkey see, monkey do, monkey crash and end up in hospital.

I believe its a good rule to take you child to the ER most of the time after they bang their head.

Did you know you can get a cuncusion from a pillow fight?

I think it is just more vigilance. Just look at the tragic case of Natasha Richardson.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natasha_Richardson#Injury_and_death

I'm hoping that more parents are aware of the dire consequences of not bringing their child to the emergency room after a bump on the head. Yesterday was the funeral of a 16 year old boy who banged his head a week ago. Four days later they had to shut off the life-support equipment. Incredibly sad.

Almost 60 years ago, I rode my bike, with my younger brother on the handlebars, down the only highway that ran through our country village, on our way to Bible Class. I fell over onto the highway, knocking myself out. When I awoke (as I was being carried off the highway by people from the cars and trucks that stopped to help), I went home and was soundly read out by my mother. Both my eyes turned black, and the whites of my eyes were blood red. We never even went to see a doctor, and I am still alive and kicking. We cannot save everyone from everything, and the wusses in this world, or those trying to make another dollar, must stop encouraging people to flood the emergency rooms with aches and pains and bumps and bruises that are simply a part of life. Yes, I could have died, but I didn't. I also could have died if a vehicle was coming down the highway and was unable to stop before running over my unconcious body. We wonder why our children have no strengh of mind or body, why so many are obese (how often do you see parents carrying, pulling, or pushing their toddlers, rather than making them walk along) when all the while it is the fear mongers, and the wussy wimps who cry "help" for every little thing.

I've seen very little change in the activities that would drive more concussions. I have no doubt that this primarily due to better awareness. My kids grew up during this period and I observed an increasing amount of information in all of the sports that my kids participated in about this topic. It went from, "Oh, Johnny rung his bell, keep him in the game if he wants to play" to "Get him of the field and don't let him back on until he has passed the trainer's test."

Save the ER's some time and learn how to monitor your child. If their symptoms get worse, then absolutely you should take them to the ER, but if you run off and expect a $3000 CT scan everytime you or your child bumps their head then you're wasting time and money. Monitor your child overnight and have them see their pediatrician the next day.

I think with the advent of the UFC, more kids are starting to imitate a certain style of fighting in which one kid ends up on his/her back with the other kid sitting on top of kid's chest raining punches on the other kids face/head. I have seen videos on YouTube where kids are knocked unconscious, then the other kid gets on top and continues to land punches to the unconcious/semi-concious kid's face and head. Even teenaged girls are doing this at an alarming rate (actually, the girl fights are worse than the guy fights)... these videos are all over the internet. When kids suffer from repeated bare knuckle punches to the head like that, it undoubtedly causes brain trauma perhaps worse than football and warrants a full medical workup. In my generation (I am 43), teenagers got into fights, but we did not knock each other unconcious and pound each others faces in like they do now. This may constitute a small percentage of the cucussions, but I believe it is a very disturbing trend with today's youth.

It is easy for me, I bet I had 5 concussions before I was 18. Just never reported them. Just one of those things that happen when you run around and hit stuff

Judging by the "logic" of your argument, ettucat, maybe you should go get that head injury seen to...no matter how long it's been!!

Seems to me that since we only have one brain that we should take good care of it regardless of age. Parents need to juggle risk and reward for their children... having information helps with that process. My stepson had so many concussions from high school football the Navy was concerned about him enlisting. He did, but has to be extra careful now with basketball etc. I think we need to pay attention to this data and make decisions based on as many factors as we can.

I have been an athlete all my life and now a parent of two boys. I have always competed with the best of the best in many sports. I think everyone has over looked technology in sports over the past 20 years. Look at the evolution of sporting goods. Baseball use to be aluminum and wood bats, now they are made out of engineering materials to hit the ball harder and farther. Heaven forbid a kid got hit in the head with a helmet 20 years ago from a baseball off an aluminum bat. He was almost knocked out, now with the new bats, they are lucky to be alive. Bicycles: 20 years ago the bikes were heavy and you needed to be an athlete just to get to 15-20 mph now the bikes are light and are designed to be fast. Football, soccer, softball, tennis and many other sports you could give the same report. Secondly the human race is getting bigger, faster and stronger younger in life therefore more potential energy is being generated. THAT ENGERGY HAS TO GO SOMEWHERE!!!!

Bottom line sports technology and the human structure are changing to be stronger, faster and better, but our skull and brain is just as weak as it was 20 year ago. The only way to reduce the emergency room visits and head injuries is for the athletic programs to regulate the sporting equipment.

Great information! This helps topic helps bring awareness to a very important subject. If you or anyone you know may have sustained a TBI please contact your states Brain Injury Association. If you live in Arizona you may contact us directly for more information about brain injury and concussions.

www.biaaz.org or emal info@biaaz.org

It's the age of Jackass where lame brains decide to bicycle off a roof into a Dixie cup to show how cool(stupid) they are.

let us not forget that the population has almost doubled,so it should stand to reason the e.r visits would double also.

This article left out an important part of athletic-related concussions: the athletic trainer. Athletic trainers are being hired more frequently by high schools across the US. These qualified, certified healtcare professionals have the skills to evaluate concussions (an injuries in general) on the sidelines, and are used by physicians to determine athletes' return to play as well as daily assessment of brain injuries. Parents, encourage your athletes to see their athletic trainer for any kind of injury. Physicians can't be or aren't always on the sidelines, but the athletic trainer is.

I would think that it's better awareness that is causing the increase in ER visits...it's no longer "shake it off, it will pass". Too many people have died from TBI (traumatic brain injury) over the years....think of Natasha Richardson, for instance. I've been a RN for 17 years, and in the clinic we get a lot of phone calls about kids and head injuries. The vast majority we will see in the clinic as precautionary...if the child has dizziness, vomiting, any loss of consciousness, we send them right to the ER--a CT scan is about the only way to confirm a concussion.

Numerous people argued that boxing was no more dangerous than football. Seeing these statistics kind of weakens that argument, doesn't it?

Exactly---take a look at Muhammad Ali....his Parkinson's Disease is believed to be caused by his years in the boxing ring.

And finally to ettucat: 50 years ago my father was accidentally struck in the right eye with a fastball thrown by his older brother. Even though my dad was screaming & crying in pain, my grandparents refused to take my dad to be checked. Turns out my dad had a detached retina from that fastball, and he is blind in his right eye as a result.

My daughter recieved a concussion when she was two years old during the summer. She slipped and fell in some water on the floor and hit the back of her head. Please keep in mind that not all concussions occur the same way for everyone. My daughter cried and I was able to console her in just a couple of minutes and she was back to playing. In 30 minutes she came back to me wanting to go to sleep. I called the ER and explained what happened and they said to let her rest and if she started to throw up, to bring her in. Within 5 minutes she was throwing up non--stop. I called 911 and within 5 minutes and by the time the paramedics got there, my daughter couldn't even walk. They had to life-flight her to a children's hospital 30 minutes away. For a parent, that was one of the scariest moments of my life and i was completely numb. They were expecting to see severe damage by the way she was acting. The CAT scan showed nothing, THANK GOD!! it raised her chance of epilepsy for the next 5 years..she is 5 now and I will NEVER forget that day..gives me chills just remembering it.

 personaly think parents now are scared of having their child taken away by CPS and being acused of child abuse.  I just heard a story the other day about a child taken away becuase of a kitchen accident.  It is recomended children under the age of 18 not be allowed in the kitchen and that you should bubble wrap your child.  But really it is common sence (wich is not that common) to know when to take a child to the ER for head trama.

Increased detection is surely most of the reason. Today, fewer high schools have contact sports like football and padding, training, etc. is much better than in the past. In most of Maryland, if you're a high school coach you're required to take a course in Care and Prevention of Athletic Injuries, including the identification of concussions. Those who have had them must be sent to the hospital (or turned over to parents to take them there) and they may not play in a sports contest for at least a week.

This article would have been much more informative if it had given results by type of activity, i.e., football, boxing, etc. I work with teenagers and have seen a myriad of injuries from skateboarding, and most teens are NOT wearing helmets.

good information :)

Trust me, you don't want your child to be treated, negatively. Once they are labelled brain disabled, retarded, handicapped, etc., it never changes, no matter how you succeed!! You aren't able to integrate back into society, because your head/brain isn't valued/needed. Employers will feel the same way, i.e., Wal Mart, Sonic, Radio Shack, State of Arkansas, etc.