How well do you know the signs of a concussion?

Concussion injuries have been in the news a lot lately and the Rothman Institute, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia as well as other medical institutions are taking a hard stand on when kids can go back to play or even school after a brain injury. From a parent's or a coach's perspective, what should you know about concussions?

Katie Quinn is the manager of Lansing United soccer team in Philadelphia where her son Aidan, age 9 plays. As a mom of an active boy who loves soccer, she is very interested in learning more about how to prevent these types of injuries.

"We don't do anything to prevent it really right now," she said. "I have always wondered if there were exercises our kids can do to prevent a concussion from happening in the first place. Everyone responds appropriately when the head injury occurs, but there needs to be more of a focus on prevention."

When it comes to signs or symptoms of a concussion, Quinn doesn't feel that most parents know what to look for. "Many people still believe that there is only danger of a concussion when there is a direct hit to the head and that it is only serious when the player loses consciousness," she explained.

"In fact, only a small percent of concussions lead to unconsciousness. Any shake of the brain, whether from a fall or a direct hit can cause damage," she added.

Quinn believes that there needs to be more of a focus on concussion awareness and education. She would love for there to be team exercises they can do and more guidelines and training for coaches.

"Programs for the kids themselves like learning how to fall would also be great," she added.

Quinn's brother Seamus coaches soccer, basketball and lacrosse and is the director of lacrosse at the Lansing Knights, and from his perspective as a coach, what he struggles with most is parents and kids who don't understand why he is overcautious when it comes to head injuries.

"If a kid is hit hard, his head could snap back, causing a jolt to the brain. When this happens, I pull the player and watch him. Sometimes parents get upset that their kid is benched and the kid doesn't want to be pulled from the game because he is only thinking about the competition," he said.

"I tell my players that if they get hurt, they are done for the day and that their parents need to take them to get checked out."

Seamus gives his parents a flyer at the beginning of each season with the red flags to look for when it comes to concussions. He said that there are concussion helmets now that are being considered for lacrosse, but right now they are used mostly for college football and only a select few high school athletic programs because they are expensive.

"A sensor in the helmets track the number and intensity of the hits a player takes during the season," he explained. "What is surprising to many coaches and parents is how many times a player might suffer a small concussion during practice without anybody knowing it happened."

"It is important that even if your kid doesn't seem hurt bad, to have him checked out by a doctor," Seamus added. "Signs I always say to look for are if the child is dazed and confused, balance seems off, or he or she acts clumsier. Behavioral change, headache, nausea, vomiting, vision problems, nervousness, and anxiety are other possible symptoms as well."

Seamus like his sister would love to have videos and other educational resources to share with his team and their parents and maybe have doctors reach out to league offices to help spread awareness.

Local sports medicine programs like those at the Rothman Institute and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia do offer free online resources to help parents and coaches, but does more need to be done to get these resources to more people? Rothman offers a concussion guide for parents that includes advice like how to be proactive, what signs to look for and the do's and do not's of recovery. They also provide education for coaches, school districts, youth sports leagues and the athletes themselves through their Sports Concussion Institute. One of the things they suggest is that every player should have a baseline cognitive functioning screening which will give doctors something to compare against after a concussion.

At CHOP's Sports Medicine and Performance Center they have established their "Concussion Care for Kids: MindsMatter" program that offers videos, flyers and other educational material to help with concussion prevention. They too offer resources for families, coaches, and school staff like video FAQs and infographics and posters. They emphasize how much of an important role nutrition and sleep play in concussion recovery. Did you know that Pennsylvania and New Jersey have concussion laws? Learn more on CHOP's "MindsMatter" site.

Having the whole community –parents, coaches, sports leagues, schools and medical professionals – all working together is definitely the right path for protecting our athletes from debilitating injury.

Read more Sports Doc for Sports Medicine and Fitness.