Returning PCS?
 

Hey everyone, I've posted here a few times before so I'll give you a quick rundown of my PCS history.

I'm 19. I hit the back of my in December '10 on a faucet while showering. Wasn't that hard of an impact, but I suffered mild PCS for about 7 months. December '10 to late August '11.

My symptoms were mainly feeling very cloudy and off most of the time, slight anxiety every once in awhile, problems sleeping very occasionally, and feeling uncomfortable and restless every so often. Nothing too serious, but still enough to bother me every day.

Well that being said, in August I returned to college for my second year and my symptoms disappeared. I felt completely normal again! It was great. The only times I would feel my old symptoms a little bit was whenever I was a bit under the weather.

This past Sunday I accidentally bumped the side of my head on a cabinet, but not nearly hard enough to do any damage. I was a bit anxious due to my past injury and had a bit of a rough time sleeping, but my girlfriend helped to calm me down and get a good night's sleep.

But for the past week or so, I've been feeling like I did with my mild PCS. Very out of it, a bit anxious, very tired out. This is a bit startling to me since I haven't felt this way since the summer. Is this a common occurrence? I'm not sure why my symptoms would return after a 3 month absence.

I am a very healthy 19 year old, I go to the gym 4 times a week, eat fairly well, and I'm a very positive person. Please give me some advice!

This is totally second-hand, but I do know that Justin Morneau (who plays for the Minnesota Twins) got a concussion last season, was out for seven months, and then returned to play.

He later experienced a mild relapse of symptoms after diving to catch a ball in the outfield, even though he didn't hit his head directly on anything. I think they reported that he had brain fog and possibly a headache after that. He sat out a couple more games.

So, apparently, yes, you can experience renewed symptoms after minor events.

Really? Do you know if they went away quicker or were they back for awhile? I mean, I really don't want to go through this again for 7 months.

yeah...i get major headaches after just going shopping and enjoying myself -- but that isn't another concussion...but sometimes I feel like it is!!

Teams don't always provide a lot of information about player injuries - I'm not sure anyone outside the organization knows the timetable for Morneau's return (who knows - he might already feel back to normal). His return of symptoms came towards the end of the 2011 baseball season, and the Twins were out of contention by that point, so he simply went on the disabled list for the remainder of the season. He has the next few months to rest up and gradually get in shape for next spring, assuming he decides to keep playing.

According to wikipedia, the hockey player Patrice Bergeron had a serious concussion in 2008-09 (out for about a year) and has since had a productive career, despite having had a couple of more concussions that caused him to be out for much shorter periods.

I think the bottom line is that you can't predict these things, and everyone is different. I would think it would be important to take good care of yourself and "do all the do's" required to support your recovery the second time around (which includes being patient). Hopefully it won't take as long this time - best of luck.

Okay, thanks a bunch man! I really appreciate it.

Alexnew,

What you experienced was a sub-concussive impact. Your brain has been sensitized to even minor impacts so it is likely to happen again.

I have to be very careful about any risk of a sub-concussive impact. I suffered one about two months ago and am just now getting back to normal. I got hit in the forehead by a piece of metal that dropped while I was under my truck repairing the transmission. It dinged my skin, left a small bump and made me a space cadet for the next 6 weeks or so.

I bet that if you did some serious recollecting, you will discover that this was not your first head ding. You have probably had many sub-concussive impacts in your 19 years. You may have even suffered a full concussion but since it was your first and you are young, you did not have serious prolonged symptoms.

If this is the case, you will need to work at becoming diligent with your body movements in risky situations. I realize that a shower and cabinet are not risky but there will be other activities that are risky, such as snow boarding, roller blading, contact sports, even just a ride down a rough road in a car.

This sensitivity will not go away. But, you can easily reduce your risks.

My best to you.

How did you manage to hit the faucet hard enough to cause concussion? Did you fall?

Thanks a lot for the advice, Mark! But does this mean this will happen for every little bump on my head? Will it get worse?

Nope, no fall was involved. I think what happened was not a factor of hitting the faucet hard enough, it was a case of hitting my head in the right (or I should say wrong) place. Last year I lived in a dorm where the shower knob was about sternum height. I was taking a shower and accidentally dropped the shampoo bottle, so I bent down to pick it up. As I was standing back up, though, I hit the direct back of my head on the knob pretty hard. I did not pass out, but I definitely saw stars. That's what did me in.