Can a parental smack to the back of the head cause a concussion?
 

Hi, I was wondering if a moderately hard smack to the back of the head can cause any form of concussion. I was asking this because the day I was smacked on the back of the head, during the moment of the smack, for a brief second I smelled some strange smell, and it went away instantly. After this I got out of the car later and my arms felt weak and my tongue was tingling. My legs were also kind of weak and I was also lightheaded when I moved my head. I was wondering if these symptoms can be caused by anxiety and ocd, because I have a bad wase of odd, and I can't stop donating on things like this. I also forgot to mention a few hours later, I would get these headaches that come and go real quickly. I wouldn't even call it a headache, it's just a pain for a short period of time, like 1 second, then goes away. If this seems like a lot of symptoms, that's because I hyper focus on anything and I take note of everything I experience. So I don't know if this is just stress, or if it is a small form of mtbi. I obsess over my head, and this smack was a huge deal for me, because things such as moving my head to quickly even stresses me out and makes me worry. So I definitely didn't take this smack on the back of my head lightly. My dad was just mad that I forgot to take my wallet to work and backhanded me. But if this is enough to get a concussion, then I guess I should just bubble wrap my head to protect the fragile brain... that was a joke, btw. Thank you for your time.

Cavencruiser,

First, your high level of anxiety can cause all of these symptoms. A backhand would have to be extremely hard to cause a concussion and would likely cause seriously bruised knuckles or even broken fingers.

Second, you are correct to not take a smack to the head lightly from a health point. Nobody should be disciplined with a smack to the head, no matter how light. I suggest you establish an 'off limits' contact agreement with your father. The head and neck and spine are OFF LIMITS. A warning of a promise to contact an authority if it happens again would be worth considering. You know your father but you also need to protect yourself.

This smack sounds like it was to the upper neck and cervical spine area. That is a very dangerous area full of arteries and nerves.

You should seek help with your anxiety and overly focused attention to detail, especially health issues. That can make for a miserable life. Learning to let go and accept the ups and downs and focus on the bigger picture when possible will be beneficial to your future.

But what if I had a concussion a year before, would that make it possible for me to get a concussion from a simple slap like that? And why did I experience that strange smell when getting hit, and it vanished in less than a second?

But also, I should add in here that after that smack I was able to balance on a soccer ball. Like standing directly on top of it, which people witch concussions surely can't do, right? I was always able to do this, so don't think that the smack to my head gabe me some superpowers or something.

No, the prior concussion would not leave you sensitive to such a level. But, a prior concussion could leave you will a very sensitive upper neck. Many concussion symptoms are due to upper neck injuries, not brain injuries. I suggest you spend some time icing your neck and being careful to sleep and rest with good head and neck posture (straight, not bent over). The Vitamins sticky at the top of the index page first post has a recipe for making crushable ice packs.

A slap can rarely cause a concussion, just not enough power/force happens..
Hopefully your dad was not trying to injure you at all.:eek:

I added a new sticky thread recently that might be helpful for you to look at.
https://www.neurotalk.org/traumatic-...-disorder.html

So could a neck problem cause the muscle fatigue mentioned above?

Anxiety can cause all of your symptoms. It appears you may be overdoing looking for and assessing symptoms. OCD can cause you to be this way.

You would be better off to not try to identify a causation. It is not possible to accurately do that. It will just drive you to exhaustion trying to do it. Some even get stuck trying to replicate events/impacts to see if it causes the symptom.

The important thing is to prevent a repeat performance. Your father should never be allowed to smack you again. Your friends should not either.

So, did you get a concussion a year ago? What happened and what were your symptoms? How long did they last?

I feel like it is very likely to have a concussion after that smack to the back of the head because of the fact that I started to feel "symptoms" as soon as I stepped out of the vehicle, these symptoms include: weakness or lack of coordination in my arms and legs, lightheadedness, anxiety, and hard to focus. What I don't understand is that smell that occurs when you get smacked in the head, that lasts only the second you are smacked, and vanishes afterwords. Any ideas on this?