Your Young Gymnast Has a Concussion: 5 Tips to Help Them Recover for Long-Term Success
If you're reading this, chances are your young gymnast has recently suffered a concussion.
First of all, I’m sending you a big virtual hug. As a fellow gymnastics parent, I know how hard it is to see your child sidelined by an injury, especially one as serious (and often invisible) as a concussion. When our daughter took a fall during practice trying to regain her beam dismount and hit her head on the spring floor. The diagnosis hit us really hard. Up until that point she never had a major injury in the sport and waves of emotion/concern overcame our family.
Navigating recovery felt overwhelming at first. We wanted to make sure she healed physically, but we also quickly realized that mental recovery was just as important. So I want to share five things we learned along the way, tips that helped us support our gymnast both in body and spirit.
1. Rest Comes First—But It’s Not All or Nothing
In those first few days, strict rest is important. That means eliminating screen time as much as possible, no loud environments, and definitely no physical activity that could risk another hit to the head. We also applied a red filter to her iPad in the settings to minimize the impact of the screen when changing a song or podcast. However as your child starts to feel better, “cocooning” for too long can actually slow recovery. Once your doctor gives the okay, gradually reintroduce light activity—think quiet walks, light stretches, or even coloring and puzzles that don’t strain their brain. She even decided to redecorate her inspirational calendar.
We found using an exercise bike, short walks outside, creative activities and old fashion board games all helped during the healing process.
2. Listen to Their Symptoms—Even the Ones You Can’t See
Unlike a broken bone, a concussion doesn’t show up on an X-ray. Your gymnast might look “fine,” but that doesn’t mean they feel fine. Dizziness, sensitivity to light, difficulty concentrating, and even mood swings are all common. Keep the lines of communication open and check in regularly with open-ended questions like, “How’s your head feeling today?” or “Anything bothering you that didn’t used to?”
Do the exercises the physical therapist gives you every day. Don’t get overly focused on what you use to do them, just do them. (Use playing cards, a pen, your child’s thumb, anything with a focal point). If you don’t do them regularly it slows down recovery.
It also helped us to allow her to wear things that minimized the impact of symptoms like sunglasses and ear plugs. The loop ear plugs were a great investment as well. They made being around her sister and other loud environments like the lunchroom at school more tolerable.
3. Address the Fear: Mental Recovery Is Just as Crucial
One thing we knew was super important to address was how scared she could be to return to gymnastics. This entire incident started because she was trying to work through a Mental Block. She didn't perform the skill she was attempting with the correct form due to her fear. This led to her landing on her back hard and banging her head on the spring floor. We didn't know how bad things were until the next day. In general gymnasts are incredibly brave and tough, but injuries like concussions can shake even the most confident kids. We knew we had to be proactive in addressing this aspect of recovery.
We allowed her to talk through her feelings and emotions around the injury. We let her listen to a podcast about over coming metal blocks. Hearing the tips and the stories of other gymnast who have recovered and excelled at the sport helped her a lot. We also talked through changing her mindset so that she can focus on the skills she is confident in and build the skills that feel shaky by taking a step back so she can truly understand it again.
Visualization exercises, journaling about goals and fears, and starting with “fun,” low-pressure movements helped her remember why she loved gymnastics in the first place.
4. Nutrition : Yes you have to eat that...
One of the hardest parts of not feeling well is the desire to only eat comfort foods. Most of which are inflammatory and just not good for recovering from a concussion. I bet you saw your favorite "I Don't Feel Good" treat on that list as well.
As a parent we had to balance allowing her to have foods that made the process of healing and being away from her friends more tolerable without her over indulging on ultra processed, high sugar , inflammatory foods.
We incorporated Salmon as much as possible, gave her omega 3 fish oil pills once a day, increased the amount of leafy green vegetables in her meals and focused a lot on hydration with both water and hydration packs. These hydration packs specifically were helpful as they already include brain healthy nutrients. Even though it was hard, better nutrition habits were a big part of the recovery journey.
5. Take the Long View—Recovery Isn’t a Race
Concussions are serious, and rushing recovery just isn’t worth it. We had to remind ourselves (and our gymnast almost daily!) that taking a few weeks or even months off now is a smart investment in her long-term athletic career and her brain health. It would suck to rush back to gym and be out even longer because we didn't let her heal fully. The FOMO of missing out on the beginning of upgrade season is hard but we know it will be worth it when she can fully return to gymnastics.
Meet with the Gym and make sure they have a good plan of support for her return. She will want to go full speed but sometimes you have to slow down to speed up. Her coaches can develop a individualized plan to incorporate progressions that will get her back up to speed with her team before she knows it.
Celebrate small wins: the first symptom-free day, a return to light conditioning, ability to make it through a whole day of school symptom free or the first time she visualizes her routine without fear. Each step forward is a big deal.
A Few Safe and Fun Activities During Recovery:
- Drawing or painting – great for creativity without overstimulation
- Listening to Podcasts or Audio Books
- Art Activity Kits
- Balance exercises on a soft mat – under supervision
- Gentle stretching or yoga – helps maintain flexibility
- Listening to calming music or guided meditation
- Reading short books (as vision allows)
- Walking outside in nature – sunshine and fresh air help!
- Help with Gardening- Watering Plants maybe light weeding
Final Thoughts
Watching your gymnast recover from a concussion is tough, but you’re not alone, and neither is your child.
With patience, support, and a team-based approach, they can come back stronger. Not just physically, but mentally too.
We’re still on this journey ourselves, but I hope these tips help you feel a little more prepared and a lot more hopeful. If you have any questions or want to share your own experience, I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
Here’s to healing, hugs, and handstands... once she is fully cleared.
Have you seen our Mental Block Survivor Shirt ?