What exactly is Post Concussion Syndrome
 

I have been dealing with PCS for a few months and I don't even really understand what it is. Does PCS mean my brain is still concussed or what? I read all these WebMD and don't really get what it exactly is. Can anyone explain

WEll im 14 so i cant perfectly tell you lol , but my mom and dad did some research ive had it for like 3 weeks and its pretty much a concussion that you dont realize you got and keep going on with it and eventually it catches up to you and you ge tthe symptoms later , i have some questions i dont know if you could answer but i've had it for like 3 weeks and after 1 week i woke up totally fine back to normal no symptoms then like 3 hours later i got them back. I really don't have bad head aches i have them but they don't affect me i do not take any pain medicine for them anymore and can deal with them. My problem is mostly i get like spaced out which i havent in a few days . but also my Most annoying symptom is i have 20/20 vision but for some reason my vision is like really foggy ish a little blurry its like wen you first wake up and whipe your eyes and get dizzy how that is but not that bad but its still so annoying when i wear glasses i got because my mom said that might help its not as bad but it still really gets me mad . I also get lightheaded alot. I'm just wondering if this stuff happened to you beacsue everything i look up its talking about people with the worst headaches and spaced out which i still am spaced out but after 2 weeks of staying home watching t.v relazing im back to school and handeling that just fine. Its hard for me to concentrate but its improving. It says the symptoms lessin and heal on avg in a few months, Depending on your are and other things like how you hit your head i play hockey and hit people alot and am a freshmen on varsity so i took some big hits my parents think i got hit and got a concussion which wasnt a bad one and continued playing and thats how i got this. I wish you the best REcovering and mostly im concerned if your vision is mesed up? and i used to feel like im in 3rd person mode not in my body but i stressed out then alot now im cool about it and am just waiting for it to heal since i have great parents who support me and get my mind off it and tell me it takes time to take it day by day but please let me know if you feel lightheaded and your vision is messed up.

Welcome to NeuroTalk! Here are some good links that are sticked to the top of this forum. http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread19462.html

Hopefully some of your questions will be answered there. :)

O believe me I experience that stuff. I am 8 months into my PCS and I am currently doing physical therapy for my balance and vision. Let me give you the biggest piece of advice that In refused to listen to and it is the reason my head is the way it is. DONT RUSH BACK INTO THINGS. If you feel 100% one morning, thats good, but that doesnt men resume your daily activities 100% the way you used to. That means slowly and gradually get back into the swing of things. SLOWLY AND GRADUALLY. I got a minor concussion 1 year ago and three weeks later i thought I felt 100% and i went back into my lacrosse game and got another one on ahit that wasn't even that hard.

I honestly can't stress enough how important this concept of going back to normal activities slowly is. You are young and don't need to permenately damage your brain. As for the lightheadedness and vision changes, yes obviously that is from your concussion if you never had previous problems with them. My headaches to have decreased significantly, but I still suffer with dizziness and vision problems, but it is getting better.

So, take it easy. If you feel 100%, thats good, but that doesn't mean you are perfectly fine again. Get back into the swing of things slowly

Post Concussion Syndrome is a cluster of symptoms that follow a known impact to the head. The individual matrix of symptoms effecting any one individual will be different. As the saying goes, "If you've seen one brain injury, you've seen one brain injury." Some will claim it does not become PCS until it last beyond a week or two to even a month. That time line varies.

There is a new category of PCS called PPCS or Prolonged Post Concussion Syndrome. This is when symptoms persist into a longer period of a year or two, again, the time line is not specifically established.

One expert suggests all impacts to the head be recorded in the patients medical records so that later manifestation of symptoms can be considered as possible PCS. Without this possible concussion in the medical record, the cluster of PCS symptoms can be confusing to the doctor and patient leading to errant diagnoses.

The following International Code of Diagnostics are recommended for the patients' medical record.

2012 ICD-9-CM Diagnosis Code 850.9
Concussion, unspecified
A violent jar or shock, or the condition which results from such an injury.

2012 ICD-10-CM S06.0X0A Concussion without loss of consciousness, initial encounter

There are different theories as to what is PCS or what causes PCS.

My personal favorite is that PCS is a relatively minor Diffuse Axonal Injury or DAI. A severe DAI would cause death. But the idea behind it is that many axons were torn (actually that their myelin sheaths were damaged) and they are taking their sweet time fixing themselves or re-routing pathways that are irrepairable.

Another theory I've read is that PCS is (again) relatively minor damage caused by a concussion to some part of the endocrine system - like the pituitary gland, thalamus, hypothalamus, or pineal gland because symtoms caused by issues with one of those areas of the brain are very similar, if not identical, to PCS.

And yet a third theory I've read is that it is an indication of multiple concussions, or even sub-concussions (which are jolts to the head that help the brain acquire some very minimal damage, but not enough to actually make the person aware that there is any damage) but because of the cumulative nature of brain injury, it all just manifests into PCS symptoms.

Experts really don't know what PCS is. There are a lot of theories, even more than I've listed, but I don't think I can recall any other ones right now. But they are trying to figure it out. Frankly, all of those theories could cause PCS or none of them could.

I've been doing a lot of layman research about all of it.

Many symptoms could be caused by fatigue, which might be caused by lack of activity or the fact that the brain has to use more energy to heal. As we all well know, many of the symptoms could be caused by something psychological - a chemical reaction in the brain that alters its functioning. It could very well be that a very minor increase in intracranial pressure from swelling caused by the initial injury could cause a lot of symptoms but that most people's brains or bodily systems are able to regulate it and absorb the CSF.

Our society really needs better technology to observe smaller pieces of the brain while the person is still alive and the brain and skull are still intact. I'm very hopeful of this diffuse tensor imaging research that's being conducted to try to identify what's going on inside of people's heads on a biological level when they are recovering from a concussion.

Thanks Mark,

I do have a question though. Yesterday i went into my car to grab my ipod and and i leaned in to grab it and when I came up I bumped my head, not REALLY hard, just a normal little bump on the head. Can these little bumps cause concussions or are these little bumps not enough to cause damage?

Labels are just about meaningless when it comes to concussions and sub-concussive impacts.

What is important is "Did the bump cause a return or increase of symptoms?"

It is like that argument, "If a tree falls in the forest and there is nobody there to hear it, did it make a sound?"

The more important thing to consider is "If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to see it fall, did it really fall?"

Of course it fell. The evidence is that the tree is no longer standing. It is laying on the forest floor.

If you bump your head but do not experience any concussion symptoms, does that mean you did not bump your head?

So, if you bump your head but do not experience concussion symptoms, it is likely not a concussion. It is a sub-concussive impact that can accumulate with other sub-concussive impacts to cause concussion like symptoms.

Now, if that explanation does not give you brain fog, maybe you do not have PCS. LOL