After a concussion, sending a text or watching a TV show probably won’t harm your recovery. New research suggests that some screen time might even help.
A concussion is a brain injury caused by a bump or a blow to the head. It temporarily messes with the brain’s function. A large 2021 study suggested that people should avoid screen time for two days after such an injury. Those who did got well faster than those who didn’t.
The new study suggests the best prescription for screen use may not be quite as clear cut as that.
This new research was underway around the same time as the earlier one. Molly Cairncross and her team also were investigating how screen time affects concussion recovery. A neuropsychologist, Cairncross studies the brain and behavior. She works at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. That work focuses on how factors, including social time, affect recovery from a concussion.
A few hours of screen time daily may be better than none at all, this study now suggests. That’s not totally surprising, Cairncross says. “We already knew that kids use screens for social support. And we know that feeling isolated can impact recovery.”
Screen time sweet spot
The new study analyzed health records from 633 kids with a concussion. The 8- to 16-year-olds had been treated in an emergency room between September 2016 and December 2018. The researchers collected health data from before and after the concussions. Patients and their parents filled out questionnaires. They described symptoms a few times in the six months after the injuries: weekly during the first three months, then every two weeks for three more months. Parents also shared information about their kids’ sleep, screen time and other activities.
Screen time was an important factor in recovery, the team’s results suggest — but not in the way they expected. After a concussion, kids reported symptoms such as trouble concentrating, memory problems,…
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