The research analyzed the medical records of 110 male and 102 female athletes, ages 11 to 18, with first-time concussion diagnoses. The median duration of symptoms was 11 days for boys and 28 days for girls. The data also showed that symptoms resolved within three weeks for 75 percent of boys, compared to 42 percent of girls.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese findings confirm what many in sports medicine have believed for some time,\u201d said lead researcher John Neidecker, DO, a sports concussion specialist in Raleigh, North Carolina. \u201cIt highlights the need to take a whole person approach to managing concussions, looking beyond the injury to understand the mental and emotional impacts on recovery when symptoms persist.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"David](\"http:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/ortho\/files\/2017\/10\/Dr-Gealt.jpg\")
David B. Gealt, DO<\/p><\/div>\n
David B. Gealt, DO, FAOASM<\/a>, Director of the Sports Concussion Program and Assistant Director of Sports Medicine<\/a> at the Cooper Bone and Joint Institute<\/a> at Cooper University Health Care, was co-author of the study.<\/p>\n Prior research has shown that concussions exacerbate some pre-existing conditions, including headaches, depression, anxiety, and stress, all of which are more prevalent in girls and mirror hallmark concussion symptoms, according to a consensus statement from the 5th International Conference on Concussion.<\/p>\n Treating the Right Condition<\/strong><\/p>\n Understanding the overlap of symptoms means physicians must be skilled at eliciting patient history to get a full understanding of factors that might complicate recovery, according to Dr. Gealt.<\/p>\n \u201cOften in this age range, issues like migraines, depression, and anxiety have not yet been diagnosed,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, if I ask a patient whether they have one of these conditions, they\u2019re likely to say \u2018No.\u2019 \u00a0But when I ask about their experiences, I get a much clearer picture.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Neidecker gives an example of a patient with no history of migraines who admitted experiencing weekly headaches prior to the head injury. She thought the headaches were normal, but in fact the patient was suffering from migraines.<\/p>\n He uses a similar approach to uncovering anxiety, mental stress, and depression, and says diagnosis is tricky because adolescence is inherently emotional and stressful. To better understand the patient, he recommends asking young athletes whether they are hard on themselves or feel bad about not performing their best.<\/p>\n Patients with Type A personality traits typically have a baseline level of stress about the need to perform and become more stressed when they cannot, Dr. Neidecker explained. Losing the physical outlet of a sport for managing their stress compounds the issue during the recovery period.<\/p>\n \u201cIt can really become a vicious cycle for some of these kids,\u201d said Dr. Neidecker. \u201cUncovering and addressing any underlying conditions gets them back on the field faster and ultimately helps them be \u00a0healthier and happier in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n A PDF of the full study is available by request.<\/p>\n About\u00a0The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association<\/strong><\/p>\n The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association (JAOA)\u00a0<\/em>is the official scientific publication of the American Osteopathic Association. Edited by Robert Orenstein, DO, it is the premier scholarly peer-reviewed publication of the osteopathic medical profession. The\u00a0JAOA\u2019s mission is to advance medicine through the publication of peer-reviewed osteopathic research.<\/p>\n Media Contact for American Osteopathic Association<\/strong><\/p>\n Jeff Brennan, Media Relations Manager ###<\/p>\n Wendy A. Marano Cooper University Health Care Doctor Co-Authors Study Published in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association That Indicates Recovery May Be Complicated by Pre-Existing Conditions More Prevalent in Females Adolescent female athletes suffer concussion symptoms twice as long as their male counterparts, according to a new study in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. … [Read more…]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-rmineo","4":"post-642","6":"format-standard","7":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/ortho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/ortho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/ortho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/ortho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/ortho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=642"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/ortho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":645,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/ortho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642\/revisions\/645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/ortho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/ortho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/ortho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n312-202-8161 | jbrennan@osteopathic.org<\/p>\n
\nPublic Relations Manager
\nmarano-wendy@cooperhealth.edu
\n856.382.6463<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"