A six-week, heart-rate-guided home programme helped teenagers recover faster than stretching alone, with the clearest gains among those who started within 90 days of injury.
A home-based aerobic exercise programme guided by video calls helped teenagers recover more quickly from concussion than stretching alone, according to a randomised clinical trial published in JAMA Pediatrics. The study suggests that carefully paced movement, monitored remotely, may offer a practical option for young people whose symptoms persist after a head injury.
Researchers enrolled 210 participants aged 11 to 18 who had sustained a concussion within the previous year and assigned them to either six weeks of heart-rate-guided aerobic activity or a stretching routine. The exercise group used activity trackers and checked in weekly with a coach over Zoom, while the comparison group followed a daily stretching plan. At three months, the teenagers doing the aerobic programme reported lower symptom levels and better health-related quality of life, and their recovery was faster overall, according to the published paper and the associated PubMed record.
The benefit was clearest among those who began the programme within 90 days of injury. By six months, however, the difference between the two groups had faded, with both sets of participants continuing to improve. Sleep, anxiety and depressive symptoms also got better across the trial, but those measures did not improve more in the exercise group than in the stretching group.
The findings matter because concussion can disrupt school, sports and social life at a stage when both are especially important. The American Academy of Paediatrics has noted that a significant minority of children and adolescents experience symptoms that last for weeks or longer, while the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a gradual return to light activity as tolerated. The Seattle Children’s research team involved in the study says remote coaching could help families who have difficulty accessing in-person rehabilitation, particularly in rural areas or other places where specialist care is harder to reach.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
