The way children are being treated for concussion is being overhauled through a groundbreaking new trial at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.
The trial brings together specialist teams including physiotherapists, psychologists and doctors, with parents warned not to ignore the symptoms or delay treatment.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: New concussion clinic transforms children’s treatment
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Fifteen-year-old Macy Watson was at the beach when she fell face first, hitting her head on a sandbank.
“Well, I felt really dizzy and then I had like a headache and I couldn’t really think clearly,” Macy said.
Her mum Jo kept her at home for several days, but she didn’t get better.
“I was finding schoolwork really hard and like talking to people was hard,” Macy said.
“But then she just started doing really weird things and just not making sense and walking into walls,” Jo said.
Macy fell into a sandbank at the beach, suffering a concussion. Credit: 7NEWSMacy and mum Jo. Credit: 7NEWS
The teenager was taken to hospital in Melbourne where she was enrolled in the new concussion clinic as part of the trial. Weekly sessions with a physiotherapist, psychologist and specialist doctors followed.
Within weeks, she was cured.
“It’s just such a big difference. Like I was a totally different person,” Macy said.
“70 per cent of kids will get better from a concussion without any assistance. For the 30 per cent that we’ve been working with in our trial, it is a major issue,” Professor Vicki Anderson from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute said.
Researchers say parents should not ignore the warning signs after a nasty head bump, including headaches, dizziness, nausea and behavioural changes. Left untreated, it can be damaging.
There are now calls for free concussion clinics to run in children’s hospitals nationwide.
“Helping families to understand what steps they need to take to support their kids to get better,” Anderson said.
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