A Ping Pong Ball?
 

Long time lurker, first time poster here. 21 year old male in college.

So I have a long history of TBI's from playing hockey, being in a dirt bike accident, and a few more random freak accidents. In whole, I'd say that I've had 2 major concussions (as in hospitalizations) with a lot of subconcussive blows sprinkled in between.

This past fall, I sustained 3 subconcussive blows to the head (one from getting dinged by a drunk person while at a party, another from a basketball to the head, and the third from getting pushed against a wall) all within a 2 week time period.

I had some symptoms from these events, but they cleared up over time. However, ever since then, I have noticed that my head has been very sensitive to minor impacts. Especially the right side of my head. The temple in particular.

Fast forward to April of this year, I am chilling with my friends playing beer pong (my partner was drinking for me, I stay away from alcohol nowadays) just having a good time. Anyways, I bend down to grab something on the floor, and the person on the opposite side of the table throws the ping pong ball, misses the cup, and hits me right on the right temple.

I initially brushed it off thinking that there is no way that a ping pong ball could do anything, but in the coming days I began to feel really out of it. Within a week, I noticed that whenever I touched the top of my head I would get a tingly feeling in my cheek. This progressed to the point where the entire right side of my face had a numb/burning sensation. In addition, I became very fatigued, got a foggy head, had trouble with short term memory, started seeing spots in my field of vision, and began feeling depressed and anxious. All the while, I have had a pressure on the right side of my head (I wouldn't call it a headache, but just like a feeling that it is being squeezed) and ringing right ear. Anytime that I would hear loud noises or exert myself, the pressure increased and it felt like somebody was pinching my head.

Also, FWIW in this timeframe, I had sex and when I climaxed, the entire right side of my face and neck felt like they were being squeezed very hard.

I saw a neurologist about a week ago about this and he brushed this off saying that it was probably due to stress and insinuated that I was overreacting. The tone I got from him was that I was making this all up, which really bothered me. I acknowledged the fact that I could very well be making this situation bigger than it is, but I definitely did not fabricate this entire thing.

I've been slowly getting better of the past month and a half. Most symptoms have subsided, but I still feel a little foggy and have a the pressure/ringing in ear on the right side of my head. If I don't do anything, my head is alright, but if I exert myself or put pressure on the right side (or sleep on that side), it starts to act up.

Anyways, I guess my primary reason for writing this is to ask if anybody has a guess as to what exactly happened? I know I have a tendency to overreact whenever anything minor happens to my head given the history of TBI's, but there is no way that I made this all up and that the right side of my face went numb because of stress. Possibly something to do with a cranial nerve?

Secondly, does anybody have suggestions for recovery? I've been abiding by the "be fanatically cautious so that no more hits are incurred" school of thought. Also been getting lots of rest and exercising as my body permits. I am considering trying neurofeedback simply because my conception of normalcy is so off because I've been recovering from one blow to the head or another for the past 4 or so years. Do you think that would be wise to give a try all monetary costs aside?

Thanks to anybody who gives this a read and can offer some feedback.

I would say giving neuro or bio feedback a try would be worth it for sure... However, I am of the school of "I will try anything". there is an entire brain center in Dallas dedicated to biofeedback.. so surely it works..

I'm only 5 months into my recovery, but my symptoms come back hard after minor hits. It sounds like you didn't fully recover from your other concussions and that's why you are having so much trouble after a minor blow. You aren't imagining it, I'm sure of that.

pingpong,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. You have a wrong understanding of sub-concussive impacts. Sub-concussive impacts do not cause any symptoms. The danger from SCI's is the cumulative effect. Those dings that had symptoms but cleared quickly were concussions.

Regarding the ping pong ball hit. I doubt the hit did any damage but more likely you jerked your head in response. A head jerk can easily cause concussion symptoms.

I wonder if you have done something else to cause your symptoms. Have you fallen asleep with your head and neck in a bad position ? Neck inflammation can cause a myriad of strange symptoms.

Hi Pingpong,

The whole side of your face being numb/squeezed could be related to Lyme disease. I have a similar medical history as you with many concussions over many years and lingering symptoms.

I went into a doctor a month ago exploring Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment as an option to treat my Post Concussion Syndrome. The doctor told me that I had Lyme disease. I told her that she was wrong and that I had been suffering from PCS for years after getting head bumps. I told her that she was wrong because I hadn't been bit by a tick since high school. Low and behold, my test results came back a week ago and I am positive for Lyme disease. It is impossible to tell which of my symptoms came from Lyme, and which came from PCS, but I hope to improve all of them with time and proper treatment.

Good Luck!
Nimrod

Thanks for all the replies everybody