rugbyphd,

First, I seriously doubt this is your first concussion. This may be the first that had lasting symptoms. Many people suffer concussions that clear within 24 hours with only an occasional head ache. If you have a passion for rugby, I bet you have had a fair number of 'dingers'

You said "a hard running workout with lots of pounding". You should not be doing such work outs. Tr running with ear plugs in and you will get a better sense of the impacts your brain is being subjected to with each foot plant. Maybe you can try to light runs on grass or an artificial surface track that absorbs your foot plant.

Your academic load should be the only stress on your brain. Even that should be minimized. Since you can not stop your phd program, you should stop the other activities that strain your brain. Take breaks for the computer screen and keyboard as often as possible. If you find you need to reread a sentence to understand it, that means your brain has hit OVERLOAD. Take a break with your eyes closed for 10 to 20 minutes.

Your friend and her 'follow my finger' may have had good intentions but she does not know what to look for. The 'follow my finger' is called a horizontal gaze nystagmus test. The intent is to see if the eye can smoothly follow the finger. A positive for brain injury or intoxication would be the eye jerks as it moves from side to side. Any such tests should be done by a trained person on the sidelines. Conservative return to play guidelines would require the player to sit out the rest of the game and not return to play until all symptoms have resolved. Any symptoms that return during or after activity would mean the person has not healed enough to return to play.

So, focus on your studies and required work and give your brain as much rest as possible.

I would encourage you to give up on rugby. With the academic and career work load of a PhD, your next concussion could be career ending. You need to protect your intellect. I speak from experience. Losing memory functions can negate the value of a high intellect or knowledge. I still have a high intelligence but my memory limitations severely limit the ways I can express that intellect.

My best to you.