Hello everyone – first off, kudos for creating such welcoming, supportive and informative environment.

Here’s my story- about 15 years ago, I decided to take up snowboarding. I’m not the most coordinated person in the world, so over the next few seasons, falls came frequently and some times violently. I was lucky during this time to be spared broken bones, blown-out knees or shoulders.

But I hit my head hard 4 times. My symptoms after each impact were limited to dilated pupils, mild “spaciness” and an overwhelming urge to sleep. No nausea, no motor skill or sensory changes. The next day I would wake up and feel as though nothing happened. I never went to the doctor after these incidents but assume with some certainty that they were all concussions.

Fast forward to last week’s cross-country ski trip. This was my first time on skis in almost 20yrs so I was a little rusty. During my 5 days on the trails I fell roughly 20 times, never once hitting my head. Most of the falls were spectacularly unspectacular, but jarring nonetheless. I’m tall and the xc trails are groomed to be rather firm.

As I hit the snow the 2nd or 3rd time, I felt a dull ache in my left temple. Since the pain was similar to a tension headache, I ignored it and continued skiing. This same pain would return after each fall and then remain constant after the first few falls each day. Then it would generally subside after skiing for the day.

As the week wore on, I would get this same pain if I turned my head too quickly or incredibly, when driving over a bumpy road! Fortunately, no other symptoms other than a mild “detached” feeling.

I’ve been home a week now and the “tension” pain in my left temple has subsided. I’m left with a lingering “all-over” low-level headache that’s nothing to complain about.

What has me somewhat concerned are the cognitive changes I’ve noticed: feeling like I’m in a daze, difficulty concentrating, memory lapses. Also feel like I have to move slowly and avoid walking too hard if that makes any sense.

Can you nice folks help me understand what’s going on here? How could a series of innocuous falls, in which I never hit my head, trigger symptoms so far above and beyond what I experienced after substantially much more violent falls a decade ago?

Has anyone else come away from a previous episode of head trauma symptom-free only to experience a myriad of symptoms many years later after a fall or head bump?

After I heal-up from this episode, is my brain so sensitized now to any type of trauma, regardless of how mild, that I can expect my symptoms to return if I hit a pothole in my car or ride over a rooty section of trail on my mountain bike?

Thanks in advance. Bless you all.