Extended rest isn't best for teenagers with concussion, UBC study finds

Guidelines for concussion recovery are shifting as new research from UBC shows teenagers do not heal from the brain injury in the same way as adults do.

"You can never actually shut down your brain," neuroscientist and UBC professor Naznin Virji-Babul told Stephen Quinn, host of CBC's The Early Edition.

"It's very dynamic and constantly shifting from one state to another."

Teenagers with a concussion have a harder time returning to this dynamic state of rest, said Virji-Babul.

Her research was published this week in the American Society for Neurochemistry's Neuro journal.   

Along with postdoctoral fellow Angela Muller, Virji-Babul looked at the resting state of the brain to uncover answers about recovery.

"Kids who have had a concussion and come into our lab, their brains, when [Muller] analyzed them, they weren't in this dynamic state," Virji-Babul said.

"They were actually getting stuck in one state. They are not able to shift as quickly or as smoothly as kids who have not had a concussion."

Recovery guidelines

The finding has major implications for how brain injuries are treated.

"Physicians used to tell kids [to] just wait, rest, stay in a dark room," she said. "We now know that rest is actually not the best thing to do."

Teens who immediately jump back onto the field or the ice rink after suffering a concussion have a higher risk of getting a second one, Virji-Babul said, but that doesn't mean they should stop all activity and exercise.  

Two or three days of rest is important to let the brain heal from the inflammation and micro-tears of a concussion but, after that, gentle exercise can help the brain recover more quickly.

"They can start going for walks, they can start doing some running," she said. "Some kind of physical activity we think actually helps the brain get restarted and go back into that smooth state."

The idea of using exercise in children and teenagers is new and an ongoing area of research, Virji-Babul said.

She is continuing to looking into the topic and follow children with a concussion for up to a year after their injury.

With files from The Early Edition.