Can you get a concussion from turning your head too fast?
 

I figured some of you on this forum are quite experienced with all sorts of trauma related to the brain so I thought you could help out on this little OCD obsessive anxiety thought that seems to be bothering me a lot at the moment. Now this might sound stupid, but is our brains so fragile, that simply rotating our head (without shaking) to either the left or right rapidly enough with a sudden stop using your neck muscles pose a sufficient enough risk to be deemed as a potential cause of concussion?

I mean I originally did it to test if I got dizzy by turning my head fast, stupid I know, and I think I accidentally went too rough on the rotation and stopped my head too suddenly. I got dizzy and my neck hurt a little now but nothing serious, and I suspect the dizziness might come from my obsessive worrying of concussions and maybe due to the inner middle ear getting shaken around or something?

This just really bothers me, can the brain really crash into the skull by a simple movement from the body a.ka. the neck? I heard that rotational concussions are the worst :(

Thanks in advance!

My brain is very sensitive to rotations. I can cause a metallic taste in my mouth when I do this. I have learned to just not do this. Whether is is a concussion by medical terms or just causes some concussion symptoms does not really matter. If it causes symptoms, try to avoid doing it.

It is counter productive to get stuck on diagnostic terms. Symptoms are what matters.

Learn from this mistake and try to move on with your life better understanding your limitations.

My best to you.

If you're already a TBI patient, rapid head movement, as Mark said, can set off any number of symptoms. As often as not, they are the product of damage in the neck, as opposed to a new TBI.

That's not to say that rapid head movements can't cause TBI. However, that has occurred in people who engage in repeated, long term, violent head banging behaviour, like some punk rock fans. That's a long way from a simple, rapid head shake.

By rotational injury, do you mean diffuse axonal injury, where the brain is sent spinning around inside the skull? It takes quite a bit of force to set off that motion. It is more likely to happen in things, like high speed MVAs.

Welcome Minimac. :Wave-Hello:

Hello minimac,

Welcome to the NeuroTalk Support Groups.

My first thoughts when reading your message straight off the bat...

apart from neck injury, it is possible that you may have dislodged some crystals in your inner ear and that has affected your balance. If the dizzy feeling has subsided with time it's possible crystals have been absorbed back into the body.

You probably know already but it is possible for a person who has anxiety to feel dizzy.

I wouldn't go spinning your head around like that again. :)

All your responses are greatly appreciated and thanks for the introductions! :)

As to confirm some of your speculations: I wouldn't label myself as ever being under the influence of TBI. I've only been self diagnosed of having a concussion as a kid due to the fact I was having a severe headache straight after a hard fall, though lasting only a couple of hours. Hence I believe it is a requirement to have symptoms of PCS before you're at risk of a TBI?

I read somewhere that a direct impact increases the odds of receiving a concussion by up to 50 times? Opposed to a indirect impact (rotation etc?). Anyways is there a difference in terms of shaking and rotating the head? Because yeah, I do kind of fear that my sudden rapid head rotation could cause tearing of axons? What mostly is bothering me is if we are able to produce the same force with our neck muscles as in a vehicle accident :confused:

Some claim you need to have the force equivalent of breaking/snapping your neck before a concussion can occur, this is with whiplash though.

PCS is the persistence of concussion symptoms, after the period when, all things being equal, most patients are recovered. Most people who suffer a TBI do not go on to be diagnosed with PCS. PCS is a TBI complication.

Oh yeah I nearly forgot, concussion IS at least an mTBI :)

Anyways I nearly answered my own questions from a research article regarding this subject just now:

This calms me a bit, but nevertheless, I will not attempt to do this little "trick" again since merely fearing something makes you dizzy can apparently make you dizzy ironically enough :winky:

Minimac,

You said "Hence I believe it is a requirement to have symptoms of PCS before you're at risk of a TBI?" I don't understand what you are trying to say. Did you mean to say "It is a requirement to have symptoms of PCS before you're at risk of a TBI DIAGNOSIS ?"

Please do not get stuck worrying about diagnostic terms. TBI, mTBI, concussions are meaningless for treatment and recovery. It is the symptoms of the injury that matter, regardless of cause. I have had symptoms develop where doctors say I could not have suffered a concussion because the forces were too weak. Yeah right. Tell that to my symptoms, head ache, mental confusion, etc.

My best to you.

Yeah I was kind of convinced that PCS was a necessity for any long term TBI. :o

I completely agree with you that getting hung up on diagnostics doesn't get you far, while at the same time, symptoms can likely also mislead since a lot of factors can be in play. For instance, as some others have mentioned, the symptoms can be generated from anxiety or the inner ear crystals (as probably is in my case) gets shaken up resulting in some of them dislodging. Though I don't hope that shaking of the inner ear can cause any permanent hearing loss without symptoms such as tinnitus.