slipped hard on ice
 

hello,

sorry to bother you again. . .last month, i tripped forward really hard...nothing really came of it... but now i slipped really hard on the ice outside of my apartment about an hour ago. i did not hit my head (i gouged out a chunk of my right hand, though)...i sort of instinctively had my head lifted forward, which protected it (thank god)...but i went up in the air very high and fell very hard. same old stuff : dizziness, headache, ringing in ears doubly loud & a bit of nausea. i took a motrin & a gravol for that.
i can deal with this...
but i just don't want to go back to being suicidal and manic ever again. i barely made it out of that. it took a toll on all around me, too.
could this reignite that?
i'm only asking because i've read that if you fall hard enough, even without hitting your head, you can get concussed.

thank you.

It is very difficult to get concussed without hitting your head or without being subjected to violent shaking that lasts a few minutes. You can get whiplash and whiplash can cause concussion like symptoms from upper neck injuries. Those whiplash injuries are not the same as a brain injury.

I suggest you get some ice grips to put over your shoes if you need to go out in icy conditions.

"dizziness, headache, ringing in ears doubly loud & a bit of nausea." can all be from anxiety.

[QUOTE=Mark in Idaho;1231808]

I suggest you get some ice grips to put over your shoes if you need to go out in icy conditions.

QUOTE]

I've taken a liking to my Red Wings now that the snow has hit. I never realized how many people are out and about in winter with shoes that are just asking for a slip and fall. It is a double edged sword because I feel more prone to slipping given my balance/vision is not 100% and I can't afford the fall as much as a normal person.

I have had scares like this before. I find that just forcing the conscious thought that it did nothing starts to help change the situation and widen my perspective on it. It's easy to get caught in the anxiety loop and the fear of a relapse, but I have learned to tell myself that I made it through it once and I am better prepared if I have to do it again.

I love the way Red Wings give good traction. Started wearing them over 30 years ago. The rubber compound they use in their soles gives good traction.

I also fell very hard twice during a freak ice storm we had here in the central Midwest. I know I had some whiplash, and even a bit of a headache, but didn't worry about it too much afterward. I'm determined to take it easier on the ice in the future and even get some yaktrax.

I'm never on here that much anymore, but I'd like to re-iterate that paying attention to and worrying about minor head bumps and falls is likely to make your anxiety about recovery a lot worse, as Mark has often said. This can then extend recovery times exponentially. It happened to me.

I really like the following adage from a mild tbi pamphlet that I saw: "The less you think and worry about your symptoms, the faster they will usually go away."