Not only are females at a 50% greater risk of sports-related concussions than males, but girls, at least teenage girls, take more than twice as long to recover than do boys.
Boys seem to resolve their concussion symptoms after 10 days, but girls still had complaints for at least 28 days.
There are physical differences that may cause females to suffer more concussions including a small head mass and weaker neck muscles.
Pre-existing medical conditions such as migraine headaches as well as mental health issues related to anxiety and depression may be factors in delaying girls’ recovery from brain injury.
Males are more likely to “tough it out” and not report symptoms.
Remarkably, up to 60% of head injuries are diagnosed, but not treated. Maybe this is the reason that many parents aren’t allowing their kids to participate in high-risk sports.
Claudia
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