Similar Experiences?
 

Hi, everyone.

About 3 weeks ago, I fell down my stairs and had a mild concussion. My CT scan was normal. I had a huge painful bump on the back of my head and a small bump on my forehead, above my eye. I experienced the typical symptoms: headache and feelings of fogginess. At this point, all of my symptoms have resolved except for one strange issue. About a week in, I noticed new floaters in my right eye and the feeling of heaviness or pressure in the same eye. I scheduled an appointment with an ophthalmologist on Monday and he said my eyes were healthy and found no issues. He said it could be that my sinuses were a little inflamed because of impact.

Nothing has seemed to improve with the right eye. The sensation I'm experiencing is very strange and hard to describe. It now feels tingly or numb? No pain, just strange. The eye also looks a little more asymmetrical than it ever did in the past. It's always been slightly asymmetrical, but not this much.

Has anyone had a similar experience? Or have any suggestions as to who I should see about this? How long I should wait to see someone?

I'd really appreciate the feedback!
Thanks!

BK,

I had a similar experience with floater after a concussion and got the same report from the ophthalmologist. He told me how to determine when the symptoms were needing to be checked by a doctor. Basically, if the floaters have any color (usually red) then to be seen in the ER.

One of the problems with concussion and floaters is the tendency to become a bit obsessed about them. The concussion can cause a heightened awareness of issues that existed prior to the concussion but had not been noticed so as to be the object of an obsession. This heightened awareness is caused by the weakening of the filtering mechanism in the brain that normally filters out such observations.

The same holds true with tinnitus. It is not uncommon for tinnitus to come and go for the uninjured population. The PCS population develops an obsessive level of noticing tinnitus because the PCS brain does not filter out the stimuli.

The important thing to watch for are trends of deteriorating condition. If this condition get markedly worse, it would be worth a call to the doctor's office. Be sure to not let PCS anxiety magnify the condition. Ask someone else to observe the difference between each eye, if you can. Minor differences are common. We just don't notice them until we look for them.

My best to you.

fwiw, Did anybody notice the news report about falls down stairways? The fed is looking into the subject to try to reduce the injury from falls down stairs.

I have a simple solution. The fall down the stairs is not the biggest cause of injury. It is the sudden stop on the landing that is. Maybe we need to put padding at the landings of stairways with a high risk of people falling.

Watching college kids surf stairways on mattresses shows that it is the landing that hurts.

Thanks for your input, Mark!

The asymmetry had always been there to a degree and I think I have definitely been obsessing over it lately. It's noticeable to others, but they claimed they never noticed until I pointed it out. I tried looking through old pictures and it just seems a little more exaggerated now. I don't even know if a concussion that didn't involve a fracture could cause asymmetry...

What's bothering me the most is the strange numbness/tingling sensation in my right eye. It's very difficult to explain and it's been sort of changing over the course of a few weeks. Would there be a particular doctor to see? The ophthalmologist had mentioned an ENT due to the possibility of a sinus issue.

I've had floaters since my injury. They have become my new normal. I have a left eye that drooped after my injury. I got my eyes checked and I was told my left upper pheriphial was damaged. No one could tell me why. My left side of my body felt detached. I would keep a log of how you feel. Get some rest and hope for continued health. Be mindful of your movements. head injuries are complex.

Did those issues resolve for you after a period of time? Fortunately, I have no other symptoms. At 3 weeks, my headaches have resolved. I have been working out again (at a slow rate).

Thanks for your response

BK,

Ask you doctor if there is a way he can check your cranial nerves. They can be effected by a concussion. The various cranial nerves connect to the face and other areas.

Google cranial nerves and you will find a description of each nerve.

Bell's Palsy can effect Cranial Nerve VII that is the facial nerve. Maybe the nerve to the eye is inflamed in a similar way.

Sigh. Just lost my long post I typed here. Ahhh, you're probably lucky less babble from me this time around :)

I've had floaters all my life with no problem. But a sudden onset can be an issue. I assume the opthamologist put drops in to dilate your pupils allowing him a closer look at your retina?

Good video here that describes retina tears, holes and detachment. A few weeks ago I had flashes in my left eye. It was from a few holes. Because it was caught quickly, it was a quick and easy fix. Today, I just had a hole in my right retina lasered.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihHTZ...e_gdata_player

Mark has made a good point too. We do notice things much more now and are overly sensitive to things and Im certainly one who has gotten a bit obsessive. But have a look at the video and keep an eye on things. Haha. Pardon the pun!

Hi, I might be of some help. Early last August, I was 5 days into recovering from having my wisdom teeth removed surgically, when I was hosing some pot plants with my back arched, standing under an outside stair case, the type with those hollow yet thick steel support beams. I remembered I was going to do something, and forgetting how close I was to a beam, I turned around to walk away and hit my head on it, not enough to see stars, it just sort of rattled me a little, and I had a tender spot on my head for a couple of days.

I'm mentioning this because I too have experienced the 'heavy, pressured' feeling around my right eye. It's a very unpleasant feeling, and for me it seemed to invole much of my forehead and sinus area. However, I know that this is definitely involved with the nerves within the face, and was probably caused by my wisdom teeth removal, rather than the mild concussion that I may have experienced. I know this is so because healing from my teeth removal, I had 2 bruises on the right side of my face, (which was the side that swelled the most), and one was located underneath my eye, the other on my jaw line.

I think it likely has something to do with how you injured your facial area. Although, I've also experienced this after bumping my head, I think facial problems are more of the culprit. The nerves within the face are closely connected, and you said you bumped the top of your eye, so it might be a bit of inflamation there. I hope I have helped with my own personal experience.

Thanks everyone for your replies! I got a lot of good information from everyone.

My Ophthalmologist said my eyes were good. Retina, optic nerve, and pressure were all normal. So it's not an issue with my vision so much as the sensation of one eye.

An issue I'm having is deciding when to see someone. Or how long to wait. I don't have insurance right now. Under a year ago, I made a move to a new city and was freelancing. My freelancing gig ended (way sooner than expected) and I was unable to find decent insurance for myself. I'm living off of savings until I find a new job and dipping into that savings to repeatedly see doctors is something that I just can't do. Especially not knowing who, exactly, I should be seeing.

Just keep an eye on it, no pun intended.

I had iicp, increased intracranial pressure, for six months after the injury I sustained. It's not always detectable by an ophthamologist - especially early on.

IICP is a cyclical condition, so if you have it and your brain or body isn't able to control it, it will get worse. So if you start to get headaches that get worse and worse and are so severe that you can't really do anything, or if you have an ongoing headache that doesn't go away for days or weeks, or if you lose vision or become very nauseous, then it's time to go back to see a Dr.

I think keeping a log of your symptoms is a good idea too.

Take care!

ps. Thanks Mark! - I've had a lot of floaters since the concussion I sustained too. When I had the iicp, I did see different colors, but not since then. And lately they have gotten better.