Adam,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. Sorry to hear you suffered a concussion.

First, Please stop looking for all of the extreme information about brain injuries. You are likely creating a lot of unnecessary worries.

1. A CT Scan is best at about 72 hours because the common asymptomatic bleeds are slow and too small to see before 3 days. After 3 days, they start to be absorbed by the body. The 72 hours number is the result of extensive review of hundreds of CT Scans, maybe even thousands.

If you can pass a standard neurological exam, you are not at risk of a bleed. Docs do CT Scans to protect themselves of the minuscule risk of a missed diagnosis. They also do them to assure the patient that they are not in a life-threatening situation.

2. Many people struggle with dizziness for months after a concussion. Labyrinthine concussions usually have substantial hearing loss as the primary symptom.

At a week post injury, you are extremely early in your recovery. I predict the CT Scan was normal. It is was not, they would have called you immediately. It is extremely rare for a concussion to show anything on a CT Scan. It is very common for any of the many concussion symptoms to show up a week or two later.

You had all the common concussion symptoms. The ones you didn't have are rare. One dilated pupil is not a concussion symptom. It is the symptom of a serious TBI. Even memory loss is extremely rare except for the few seconds after the impact.

"For the rest of the day I was kinda dizzy and lightheaded and also had a slight headache, and I otherwise never get headaches.

I didn't have any other concussion symptoms. My mood never changed, I never had one dilated pupil, and I didn't really even have any balance problems after the first half hour and even those were minor. I never lost consciousness and have not had any memory loss. Haven't had any nausea as of yet either."

"For the rest of the day, I was kinda dizzy"
"I didn't really even have any balance problems after the first half hour "

I'm confused. These two statements are in conflict as I read them.

You should be getting quiet rest. Low sensory stimulation and good sleep. Sleep only during bed time. An occasional short nap during the day is OK.

Taking a quiet break every 2 hours or so at school or work is helpful.

Read the Vitamins sticky at the top. It has lots of good information.