brain more susceptible to re-injury?
 

Hi everyone, i had a concussion in june which took 5 months for the symptoms to go away. Since then i get new concussion symptoms whenever i bump or even tap my head. The symptoms go away after 1-3 weeks but then inevitably i bump my head again!
Can anyone explain to me what might be going on? And whether this will improve as time passes? I am visiting my dr next week but in the meantime would be really grateful to hear your input. Thanks!

It sounds like your brain has become very sensitive to any impacts. This is not uncommon. Your doctor will probably be skeptical about your sensitivity to minor impacts. Your are also more cognizant of returning symptoms so they may seem to impact you worse.

I am very sensitive to any head jostling. The symptoms are usually very immediate but short term . I have just learned to live with this and try to avoid any risks of a head impact.

My best to you.

This happens to me and it's really frustrating because with small kids it's pretty much impossible to avoid. My son is 18 months and my daughter is 4. They bump me at times even if I'm as careful as I can be. I'm still not recovered totally from my concussion so I'm hoping this will go away when I am recovered.

Are you sure you were all the way recovered? One of my docs said he hears this all the time but from people who aren't all the way recovered, ie post concussion people like us.

There is no such thing as fully recovered. Everyone has some residual symptoms, even if they only manifest during times of stress or from even minor impacts.

I guess I would just rather choose not to believe that. Even if you are right, which I'm not convinced, that's still too depressing a prospect for me to believe, even if I'm lying to myself. I know a few people who had post concussion syndrome for the better part of a year, recovered and feel completely fine. These minor taps don't harm them. Maybe they are still more susceptible to another concussion with substantial hits or falls and if that's technically what you mean by never fully recovered then I guess you're right.

But I believe in a future where for all intents and purposes I will be functionally recovered. A matter of semantics maybe. No, I'm not going to ride rollercoasters or go skiing not that I like skiing anyway but I plan to get back on my bike at some point in the future, for instance. I think we risk the perils of this fine line - identifying as PCS because of a need for validation as we go through this lonely experience without even medical help or understanding from others but developing a permanent victim / sick identity also starts to no longer serve us and harm us after a while. That's just my personal opinion, and I think we all cope the best we can and in different valid ways. One person's experience doesn't write the rule book even if that's their truth. Hope no one takes this the wrong way- I'm not saying anyone is acting like a victim or anything. Just that there are risks to self identification being closely wrapped up in the idea of a chronic or hopeless injury.

Reminds me of this: Hope may not be enough to get us there, but without hope we will never get there.

As I said, the symptoms may return when under stress. Many will recover to a point that in normal situations, they are completely symptom free. Research has shown that the concussed brain will be more sensitive when under stress, be it traumatic, emotional, sensory, chemical, metabolic, or nutritional. That is why I recommend the vitamin and supplement regimen. It helps the brain tolerate stress.

The point is to live a life that attempts to reduce these stressors.