Study Makes Surprising New Recommendations For Dealing With Concussions

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- For years, we've heard that completely avoiding activity in the days following a diagnosed concussions can help speed up recovery. According to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, there is no clear evidence that works.

The study looked at more than 3,000 children and adolescents between the ages of five and 18 who had been diagnosed with acute concussions.

One month later, the inactive children had more concussion symptoms compared to the kids who participated in light activity.

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Dr. Andrew Russman of the Cleveland Clinic did not take part in the study, but says that limiting activity too much after a concussion might not be beneficial. "There'd good evidence that if we avoid doing lots of activities, if we seat in a dark room for a long time, we don't expose ourselves to the normal things that we encounter in our environment. Then, once we start resuming those activities, we're much more sensitive to them."

Researchers say resuming physical activity after a concussion may increase blood flow to the brain, but to avoid re-injury to kids, they should generally be sidelined from the activity that led to the concussion.