Always scared from head bumps
 

I’m a 35 year old male in the US. As long as I can remember, I’ve been quite clumsy, often bumping my head of stuff. Usually it’s not too bad, but sometimes quite hard.

I’ve only had LOC from it twice (long ago, at age 6 and age 18), but since I lost consciousness 5-10 minutes after impact rather than right after the impact, I think it was just fainting from anxiety rather than the head impact (I’ve also fainted many other times with no head impact).

After a really nasty bang two years ago when I stood up into a shelf, I’ve been much more careful and aware of my surroundings.

It seems that even little impacts can leave me with headaches and mental haziness for days. My theory is that it’s anxiety + my head muscles are extra sensitive because of my bruxism (teeth grinding problem). My doctor supports this theory.

Anyway just introducing myself right now because I’m feeling scared. My gf was assembling one of those big ikea hanging lamps (that sit on the floor and hang with a huge arched arm), and she swung it around and the lampshade smacked me in the right side of the head really hard. The lampshade itself is kind of soft and it hardly hurt upon impact, but in the past hour as expected I’ve felt kind of hazy and there’s a headache on the right side that is just getting worse and worse (though it’s tolerable).

I’ve been through this enough times before that I know I don’t need to seek medical attention unless there’s extreme symptoms like worst headache ever, LOC, amnesia, vomiting, blown-out pupil, etc. So I guess I’m fine?

But still it’s unpleasant tolerating the soreness and the huge fear that maybe I might have gotten hit in just the wrong way that would have caused a brain bleed.

Anyway thanks for listening.

-Ryan

Hi Ryan,

Since this is your first post, allow me to welcome you even though I still feel new here myself. I joined years ago but haven't been very active at all until a few weeks ago.

I'm not sure why you're concerned about a brain bleed. You've never had one, right?

Some people just have quite a few head bumps, and usually it's no big deal.

Just as an example of the kind of thing that can happen with no bad effects other than the injury itself, which healed:

There were 3 times when I hit my head and lost consciousness. One time I lost several teeth, one time I had a rather deep cut on my temple, and the other time I had a rather deep cut on my forehead. I still have the scars, but otherwise I recovered. The MS I was found to have in my 30s seems to have had no connection with any of those falls though the vertigo that caused one of them probably was part of the MS.

The human head can take quite a beating. The skull is very hard.

You're probably fine but if the headache gets much worse, you should find medical help. I'm talking about a headache so bad that you've never known so much pain. That is the kind of headache you should be concerned about.

So, Ryan, as a grown man with decades of life experience and bumps, what makes you think this bump is special?

Why are you so concerned about a head bump? **

What are you doing to treat your anxiety issues?

Get a blood pressure kit and check your blood pressure from time to time to get a sense of what your normal is. Then, check your BP after one of these events when you feel symptoms. An elevated BP suggests anxiety. A BP med as a rescue med would be worthwhile. Propranolol or atenolol can help. A small supply to take ONLY when you see this anxiety and blood pressure spike may help.

What meds are you taking?

Has anybody suggested Botox shots into the jaw muscle that is the focus of bruxism?