Hey everyone

I don't post here often, so I'll explain why I'm on this site to give a little insight into my situation.

When I was 3 months old my dad threw me. This resulted in me being in a coma for 3 days, skull fracture, and all that stuff that goes along with that kind of injury...really the only confirmed issue from this is some peripheral vision loss on the right side.
However, I do have some coordination problems that are starting to severely affect my ability to function in martial arts the way that I should at my belt level. My question is, does anyone have any ideas on ways to improve coordination, specifically on one side of the body? (my right side is much worse)....and is it even possible to improve coordination that's been damaged by a brain injury? Especially since this was 19 years ago...has it been to long to bother trying to improve things? I really hope not...

Thanks

x Not Emo X,

From what I have learned from my brain injury friends and the research I have done, you likely have reached your pinnacle of function. The motor functions do not have the rewire capabilities that other neurological functions have.

It may be possible for you to strengthen the muscles and muscle groups that you need for your martial arts. A good physical trainer may be able to help you zone in on muscles that can make up for the muscles that lack good coordination.

Do you know anything about the root cause of your coordination difficulties? Often, a motor control injury will include a dysfuction of the proprioception systems needed. These are the nerve channels that tell you brain the position and movement of your muscles and limbs. If your brain does not properly understand what your muscles is doing, there may be some therapies to help strengthen these senses.

Early in my injury, I had a problem where inflammation in my neck/brain stem would lead to ballistic movements. I would try to move my arm or hand a short distance and it would take off in a ballistic movement, meaning the initial movement continued to the end of the range of the movement. This might have been a slight movement to roll over in bed ended up with a swinging arm or knee into my wife. (The stop point)

Resolving the neck/brain stem inflammation resolved this ballistic movement.

You will likely need some neurological diagnostics to determine if your proprioceptive systems are working.

I am concerned about your martial arts training. You need to be careful to prevent any head contacts. Helmets and other protection will not protect your brain. There is a risk of sub-concussive impacts that can accumulate to cause an injury that is long term and worse than a single moderate to severe concussion. I can refer you to more information about sub-concussive impacts if you need it.

My best to you.

I really don't know about the root cause of the coordination issues. I'm trying to learn as much as I can but information is pretty limited to me, due to the family situation involved in this it seems that no one will be honest with me about any of it.

I actually do alot of strengthening exercises because of the martial arts; I'm part of my karate school's team that fights in national tournaments every year and there's definitely alot of training involved in that. It has helped my coordination, but I still notice some significant issues.
As far as the head contact in martial arts...there is alot of head contact, and I know I need to be careful, ESPECIALLY with my TBI history, but I can't just avoid it...that would basically mean I can't compete in tournaments, no head contact in my regular classes...I'm still very careful though.

Thanks for your reply, it was really helpful and I'll definitely look into the things you mentioned.

You need to look into the risk of damage from head impacts. The sub-concussive impacts are the most dangerous since they are not recognized at the time of injury. This makes it so that you continue to subject your brain to more sub-concussive impacts.

An example for you to consider is simple. A corner kick in soccer to a header into the goal can be quite an impact. The brain damage for a corner kick header is minor compared to the many small impacts from a header drill of players heading the ball to each other in a small circle.

If you continue to subject your brain to such impacts, you may find that coordination will become the least of your struggles. Those of us with cognitive and memory dysfunctions can explain how frustrating they can be.

You would not need to get your medical history to determine if you have proprioception dysfunctions. Anybody who can do a good rehab neurological motor function test should be able to help you. An occupational therapist or physical therapist may be able to help you. You would want to check with a neuro-rehab hospital or clinic.

You can do some testing yourself. Standing up and look around to see where different objects are within touching range. Close your eyes and try to touch different objects around you without any other reference. Try it with both sides. If you do better with your left side than your right side, you have proprioception dysfunctions on your right side. This is what a police officer is testing when they have you close your eyes and touch your nose.

My best to you.