Bumped My Head
 

Hey all,

I'm 2 years out and had been really doing well. Working almost full time for the summer, living on my own, and having fun and traveling on weekends. My only symptoms that are still occurring are vestibular issues (mostly just ear pain), some fatigue/brain fog, and headaches from my neck and jaw. None of this really affected my day to day activities.

However, on Sunday afternoon I was getting something out of my car and hit my head on the door frame. It was a significant enough hit where I said "Ow!" and felt my head was sore immediately. I didn't really think it was enough to cause a concussion but then again I know we are more vulnerable if we had prior ones. I tried to calm my anxiety but felt a little queasy on my ride home and a little dazed (but that could've just been a long weekend of traveling).

I felt fine the rest of the night, it wasn't until Monday morning when I was getting ready for work that I felt light headed and needed to lay down. I fell asleep for ~1 hour and then felt better the rest of the day (I called in sick from work but I went for a 20 minute walk, supermarket, watched tv, etc.) all with no problem.

For the most part I'd say I feel fine except for a few troubling "symptoms". The lightheaded feeling (not like im going to faint but just breaking out in cold sweat and feeling a little dazed), and slight nausea. These symptoms are NOT normal for me, and they have been coming and going since I hit my head. I also have a headache and soreness at the top of my head where I hit it, although I get these headaches often from my neck. So really just the lightheaded/queasiness is worrisome.

Should I seek medical attention? Do I have a concussion or could it just be an inflammation of symptoms? If I knew for sure I had one I would just be ready to lie in a dark room and recover but I'm not really sure that I have one to be honest so I'm not sure what to do.

Any help?

Have you considered upper cervical chiropractic care?
Your C1 C2 probably got misaligned from the first hit and possible again with this new bump..
More info about it can be searched , or found in the sticky threads..
Up C Spine
Up C Spine - A New Approach - Sign / Symptom Checklist

JoMar,

I have considered it, but I just can't afford it right now. I hope when I'm employed full-time I can try it out because nothing else has helped my neck.

Do you think I could have just aggravated my neck and not re-concussed myself? I'm thinking that could be it but I'm not sure.

Also, an update...my eyes feel strained now, too, and a little blurry at times :( very worried

Why would you think it would not be able to cause/aggravate a concussion? a PILLOW (heavy one tho) smacked on my head and significantly worsened my concussion symptoms

I second this. Sounds to me like you've re-aggravated your neck injury. Inflammation around the C1 can affect the cranial nerves, which can result in the symptoms you've mentioned.

Hains

A heavy pillow did not aggravate a concussion. It aggravated anxiety. Same symptoms. Different cause.

This bump into the door frame caused a startle, a tender spot that is keeping you aware of the impact and maybe aggravated your neck. The tenderness is because there are lots of nerves in the 7 layers of skin outside the skull. They can take a long time to settle down.

The muscle tension alone from the tenderness can cause symptoms.

Please try to remember how the brain can tend to replay old symptoms when there is a later event that is similar to the real injury. The sensation of symptoms are real. Think of it as a flashback and how real they can feel.

Some ice and things to distract you and you will be fine.

is there any evidence for that "playback" thing? I notice that doctors do highly advise not getting any bump, jolt or shake to the head after a concussion, no matter concussive or otherwise. There should be a reason for that no?

I think the Drs warning is to make sure people don't go back to any risky activities too soon..

I gotta say when you're confused as heck, and your depth perception is messed up, every activity is a potential hazard.

The key is to slow down. We used to be able to trust subconscious actions. Many of us need to slow down and make conscious movements.

And, YES, the literature speaks about how the brain memorizes responses and can connect a serious event and the results of that event to a very minor event that has similarities and use it to trigger the responses to the serious event.

Ask somebody who has cut themselves bad. Often, a slight prick or cut will trigger an extreme reaction. Same goes for burns.

It is a part of our survival mechanism. It just over-reacts in some cases for some people.

isn't that something like PTSD?

Very interesting information! It seems that is what happened with me. Besides a few slight symptoms (mild eye discomfort and waves of light nausea), I seem to be fine. Definitely not re-concussed, thank goodness.

Mark,

Do you think the same can go for experiencing a symptom from over-exertion? Yesterday I had an extensive and pretty intense discussion with my girlfriend that triggered severe fatigue, probably because we were going over some pretty abstract stuff that forced me to think in multiple layers and hold several thoughts in my head at once. Today I feel a little groggy and "fuzzy around the edges", but I suppose that could just be a symptom coming from anticipational anxiety? My thinking goes along the lines of that the brain has experienced getting worse after experiencing severe symptoms, so the anxiety kicks in as soon as one experiences a symptom, however slight, because one can be fearful of getting worse or not getting better soon enough.

Really interesting stuff, if you have any literary recommendations on the topic I'd be glad to read up on it.

Yes, it is a PTSD sort of remembered response.

The intense conversation will set me back for a day or two. It can help to take notes. This way, your brain 'lets go' of the thought that you would otherwise try to memorize.

The male to female talking differential can make it difficult since we each think differently. Trying to process it is like trying to understand a different language.

We have to slow down to get through the 'What does she mean by that' process. I end up losing track of the point of the conversation and sort of glaze over.

So, there are two issues. 1st, Did I properly understand and respond to the conversation. 2nd, Can I avoid this causing me to crash mentally?

Take notes. If can slow the conversation and help the other person understand how we are struggling. And, it takes issues out of the 'I'm juggling too many thoughts' category.

Juggling is a good way to think of audio issues. We can only juggle so much until we drop them all.

That's good advice. Do you find that you recover quicker from ending the conversation at the first sign of the brain being depleted of energy? Because up to this point I have interpreted the feeling of "I'm out of mental gas soon" as an indication that it's time to round off the conversation. However, I'm starting to realize that that feeling rather should be the definitive point to end the conversation - because if I don't, I crash and end up messing up 1-3 days.

Have you noticed an improvement in how capable you are of juggling thoughts/auditive input over time?

Sometimes, the conversation has to end. Sometimes, you can take the conversation to a quieter place and continue. Ambient noise can reduce the brain's ability to tolerate the conversation.

A challenging issue is cell phone conversations. Too many people use their cell phones as a speaker phone that grabs far too much ambient sound for a PCS brain to process. Or, there is just lousy transmission quality. Using a head set can help with telephone call, especially cell phone calls. The worst calls tend to be were both ends of the call are using a wireless system, either cell to cell or cell to cordless landline phone.

Remember a simple concept. We can usually only do one auditory thing at a time. We can try to understand garbled words or we can try to understand a sentence. We struggle to understand a sentence of garbled words. Garbled words can be poor transmission quality, thick accents, and such.

My broadband provider likes to route tech support calls to the Philippines. I call it talking to Sponge Bob Square Pants at the bottom of the sea. The voices sound like they are bubbling up from under water with a Filipino accent on top. I ask for a US based agent and wait.

Once we observe and learn the specifics of our struggles, we can moderate them and do much better.

MotherDragon-

If I remember correctly, you had a lot of problems with dizziness? So you are not dizzy anymore? That is great! I was thinking about asking you for an update. Did any thing or things specific help?

Thank you and take care.

But an extreme lasting reaction? I've never seen someone get pain over a spot for a month in fear from a bad prick..

An injury to the many layers of skin over the skull can take many months to heal because the many nerve fibers heal very slowly. A non-concussive impact can damage these nerves and be very painful. There is no pain inside the skull except in the veins and arteries. These sometimes intense pains are usually as vaso spams if they are focused. If they are in a larger area, they are just a form of a head ache.