plasticfrancis,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. Sorry to hear of your re-injury. I can get full concussion symptoms from very mild impacts or movements. In fact, I can not shake my head No without experiencing symptoms. The key concept is the cumulative effect of sub-concussive impacts and how they relate to concussions and concussion symptoms.

The 2 time doctor is definitely not worth a third visit. His knowledge of head trauma is seriously deficient.

I have a few observations. First, it appears that you are a high achiever and pursue perfection in understanding. This makes you the worst for realizing concussion symptoms. You are trying to over think this situation.

I think you are also pushing for a fast recovery that is not likely. You said <My conclusion to what is going on is that the initial concussive inflammation has never fully healed, and that each subsequent perturbation to the cranium reawakens this inflammation, of which goes on to either suspend normal brain function because of the shock its system, or constrict the flow of blood to parts of the brain integral to the lost functions, or both. (The blood conclusion I came to because earlier when after I would walk around for hours at work, headaches would form similar to ones during caffeine withdrawal, which I interpret as an increase of blood throughout the brain, and I would feel myself to be a bit more of how I'd normally feel.)

I've been trying to heal myself this last month by supplements of gingko and St John's Wort, along with multivitamins and green foods, and I am now about to include Vinpocetine to the list.

Ibuprofen makes even more mental fogginess and encourages constipation anyway, so I don't really like taking this for the supposed inflammation.

Although one possible interpretation for the ibuprofen mental fog is that "oh, it's reducing inflammation and allowing blood to access regions of brain matter/brain functioning that have been off for some months, so this fogginess is me just having to relearn how to be normal again!" Although the threat of constipation is preventing me from experimenting with this further.> You make have some concepts that work but none of them are discussed in concussion research literature.

If you are taking the ibuprophen for head ache, that is fine. If you are taking it only for its anti-inflamitory value, I suggest you stop. I also suggest you stop the St John's Wort. It is a powerful drug and has no value for concussion recovery. The gingko has questionable value, the research done shows it has negligible impact on brain blood flow. Instead, try tumeric extract/curcumin. It has a good track record.

The head aches can be from increased blood flow to the brain but are more commonly attributed to the brain's failure to properly regulate blood flow. The vasoconstriction/dilation system can get seriously weakened by trauma.

The best explanation of concussion by the best researchers is it causes damage to the axons and dendrites and the myelin sheath that insulates them. The myelin takes a long time to heal. There is also a lymph system that follows the myelin that gets damaged that needs to heal to properly carry off the toxins.

The only proven therapy for recovery is quiet rest. The nutritional aspects enhance the value of quiet rest but do not take the place of quiet rest. The brain needs just enough stimulation for good blood flow but not enough to stress the system.

What doses of supplements are you taking? Most people use too small a dose to make a difference.

Feel free to ask questions and vent. There are plenty of good people here.

My best to you.