I’m new to posting in this forum btw, but not new to reading it. Thanks to whomever created it. It has been very helpful. I’m posting because no one (that I can find) has talked about the importance of avoiding additional impacts to the head. So this post is perhaps part anxiety, part science - when your brain is in a weakened state, what sorts of impacts can really cause additional damage? What can’t? What warrants the stress you’re feeling and what doesn’t?

I’ve been recovering from a concussion (that I experienced while playing two-hand-touch football) and a mild second impact (while surfing 2 weeks later - very lucky it wasn’t worse, but also had very poor advice from my doctor aka no advice to avoid activity) for 7 months now. It’s been a rough recovery. Ups and downs, but I’ve had some good support along the way which has been very helpful. I have seen multiple neurologists to talk over my symptoms, have received tons of recommendations including some contradicting ones, and have had an MRI and a CT scan which came up clear. I am now exercising more again, and doing physical therapy and cranio sacral therapy which seems to be helping the most.

I’ve bonked my head a few times during this recovery - I just can’t seem to be able to avoid it - the best I can do to be aware of my head just doesn't seem to be good enough. One while swimming (I swam into a wall while doing the backstroke), and one while looking at a book in the library while not paying attention while leaning forward where I hit my forehead on the shelf. Both of those brought increased symptoms, but this time feels quite different. This time I was feeling almost symptom free for 2-3 weeks beforehand. This time I was installing a propane tank after cleaning our grill, messing with the propane valve while kneeling, when I stood up quickly and bonked the top of my head on a piece of metal on the bottom of an outdoor hot water heater box (which when I touched it just a few minutes ago it does not give). I was feeling light headed the night that it happened but I was also pretty hungry. A day and a half later i was on a walk, and I started feeling symptoms I haven’t felt for 2-3 months. I was feeling moments of dizziness again/vertigo, and general dizziness by the end of the walk. Today, a day later, I am feeling more brain-moving sensations and throbbing (some of the many symptoms I’ve felt over the past few months), and a massive headache that I’ve had for the past day in a half (but luckily just went away this morning). I’ve had no return of feeling confused, dazed or any other form of mental incapacity that I can recognize though.

My question is - can something like this, this far into recovery, actually cause a mild concussion where it prolongs my recovery or makes it worse, doing more damage? Or is it simply a manifestation of symptoms again - maybe something similar to PTSD or something from the original event that is causing me to be so afraid of hitting my head again? Granted I just bonked my head much harder than I did swimming and I do have a return of symptoms, but I’m also anxious and stressed about it. Looking at it logically, I do feel like the G-forces to my head a few days ago could not have been even in the mild concussive range and there’s no way I could have actually done any real damage that warrants a return of symptoms, but it doesn't change the fact that I am feeling symptoms again. So is it really possible that I did even more damage like I am imagining or is this just part of the ups and downs of recovery?