Body
We are moving into the weeks before school starts, and that means practices for sports are getting scheduled by coaches, and guidelines need to be in place and clear with regard to how to follow up on injuries. A topic which is always of interest to us is the impact of screen time on our lives. The latest study is focused on recovery from concussion. We have known the importance of allowing our bodies to rest after concussion, to avoid any further injuries related to the concussion. But in the 48 hours following concussion, we are now to limit screen time to all but the briefest moments, a few times a day. In a new randomized trial of 125 adolescents and young adults with acute head trauma who were diagnosed with a concussion during an emergency department evaluation, individuals permitted to have screen time as tolerated had a longer time to recovery, compared with those assigned to abstain from screen time for 48 hours after injury. The unrestricted screen time patients had a mean usage of 10.2 hours in two days following injury, and the people who were restricted had a mean usage of two hours in the same two days. Cognitive function bounced back much faster in those who were in the "low screen usage" group, versus the unlimited screen users. There were also more persistent symptoms for those who were unrestricted in their screen usage.These findings support medical suggestions for reasonable cognitive rest with avoidance of mental activities that worsen symptoms after a concussion. We can’t fully rest our brains unless we unplug from our screens. And doing so will have a benefit in the long run. Headache, nausea, sleep disturbances and dizziness can persist for up to a couple of months following concussion, so treating concussions with the appropriate period of rest may be the most important thing we can do to help people recover fully.