John, You appear to be misunderstanding me. Your neuro is correct with qualifications. A 98% recover to a neuro is a 100% recovery. He can not diagnose the difference. Neither can you. As I said. recovery is relative. Your neuro looks at recovery as able to function is life, good motor control, functional sensory systems, etc. He can not (due to lack of training) and very likely would not try to diagnose anything beyond that. There is no purpose.

Insurance companies drive health care and they refuse to even acknowledge the diagnostics that show less than full recoveries because they do not want to have to pay for further attempts at treatment or for residual disability. By setting the full recovery bar low, they get off the hook with less money paid out.

"Do hard hits to the head " always " amount to a concussion ?" Very likely but it is not the hit to the head that determines a diagnosis of concussion. It is the change to neurological function, even if it is very brief, that is the diagnostic factor. As I said before, there is no correlation between impact intensity and depth of injury. There are just too many variables. i.e. Rotational forces tend to cause more injury as the brain impacts the rough interior of the skull. Whiplash back and forth forces can cause coup-contra-coup injuries as the brain bounces inside the skull.

There is no comparison between a skin laceration or even deep cut and a brain injury. Skin tissue regenerates continuously. It can fill in missing areas. It is a static tissue in that it does not do a complex function like brain cells. They do not constantly regenerate nor do they fill in missing areas. Scrapes can take years to heal so there is no scare left. I have scars from decades ago. I have laceration scars from when I was a child.

The concussion training doctors receive is for sports concussions and making return to play decisions. It is primarily to try to reduce the risk of Second Impact Syndrome and subsequent concussions/injuries due to balance and other functions needed to be safe on the field. Most concussion training is at weekend seminars done by companies like ImPACT and CNS Vital Signs. This is so they are qualified to participate in evaluations for return to play. They are not taught about long term concussion issues.

Even the creators of the ImPACT system admit it does not predict the brain's ability to tolerate future trauma.

You said, "I don't know, I just feel like the body would have developed the capability to 100% recover from a *minor* brain injury." Even a devout evolutionist would have a hard time explaining how natural selection and survival of the fittest processese would cause the brain to develop these capabilities. They do not change survival and reproduction rates.

Regarding nicotine, it is not the best thing for your brain while healing but nobody can say what impact is has on healing other than it has a negative impact on capillary function and regeneration. As an trained medical almost professional, you should be able to understand the value of good blood flow, especially capillary blood flow.

Do you actually believe your alcohol issues did not leave your brain with any residual issues ? Just like you have struggles to stop nicotine, you brain has been changed by the nicotine and alcohol. It appears you may have some memory issues and possibly logic processing issues. I'm not judging you. Just making an observation from my perspective. But, none of these issues mean you can not find ways to overcome any limitations they cause.

As Jo*mar said, you likely need some neck issues treated. They can contribute to concussion symptoms or cause similar symptoms. Your head aches could be from either the concussion, neck injury or both. The slight hazy feeling indicates a neurological trauma.

If you don't want to accept the less than 100% recovery concept, why are you even asking about it ? It sounds like your mind is already made up . Are you just an anxious person with these questions repeating over and over ?