A study has found that when healing from a concussion, some screen time is actually better than no screen time. While most parents would like to avoid them, concussions can happen to children. It could be due to an accident while playing a sport, or while doing a fun activity, like tobogganing.
Concussions are serious injuries, and there is a lot of care that needs to be taken when it comes to healing from them. Work is always being done to see what can help improve the healing, and this can guide parents on how to manage their child’s recovery.
According to Medical Xpress, a new study has found that some screen time is better than none when it comes to a child healing from a concussion. This study was done by the University of British Columbia, and it can be read in full here.
It has already been shown that too much screen time can slow down the healing of a concussion, but this new study shows that banning it altogether is not going to help either. There must be a balance when helping children heal from a concussion, but finding that balance may be difficult.
To complete this study, the researchers looked for links between the self-reported screen time of more than 700 children in the first week following a concussion. The children were all between the ages of 8 and 16 years old, and they also reported their symptoms, as well as their symptoms reported by their caregivers. They found that children who had limited access to screen time had the fastest concussion healing time. The researchers stated that this study shows that previous recommendations to avoid all screens may not be the best for children.
However, there is nothing magical about screen time, and that is not what is making them heal faster. In the modern age, children use their phones and devices to connect with the world around them. When they are healing, they are rightly in bed and resting. Cutting them off from their peers and the world can have negative aspects on their mental health, and this means that they could heal slower.
Mental health plays a part in every aspect of a child’s life. A child who is lonely, sad, or depressed is not going to heal as quickly, or as well, as someone who is in good spirits. So, let your child have their screen time, but make sure it is a moderate amount.
Sources: Medical Xpress, AAP