Doctor’s Corner: Young athletes and concussions

Football recently has made us much more aware of concussions, but these brain injuries occur in many other youth activities and sports.

Some of the increase in concussions comes from greater sports participation by girls.

State legislators this year considered a bill that would require school teams to remove any player showing signs of a concussion. The proposed bill also stipulated that such an athlete would have to be cleared by a health care provider before returning to play.

That bill failed to pass, but it may return in some form in January.

In our latest Doctor’s Corner column, Dr. Bob Wiskind, an Atlanta pediatrician, gives guidance to parents on caring for a child who has a concussion. “Cognitive (brain) rest comes first,’’ he writes.

Here’s a link to Wiskind’s column on concussion care.