Hello all,

This is my very first post. A couple months ago many things occurred in my life in a very short amount of time, leading to an abnormal influx of stress. Stress exacerbated my PCS symptoms twofold, and I’ve since been battling the anxiety over fear of receiving another blow to the head. Today I was wacked in the head by one of my friends, which lead me to stumble upon this article. I’m not experiencing any headaches, or particular balance issues, but I ‘am in somewhat of a mental fog. Is it likely that I received another concussion, or is it possible that I’m just going around the same circle I’ve been for the past two months? I’m going to try to avoid seeking an MRI as I just received one not very long ago. Is there any sure-fire way to determine if an individual received a concussion, other than going for a brain scan? I was on a cycling rampage until I got hit in the head today. I simply want to try to avoid taking any time off of my fitness schedule that isn’t needed, but I don’t know what’s legitimate and what isn’t. Truly any wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
-Will

Will,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. Sorry to hear you are struggling.

An MRI will not diagnose a concussion. There is no standard diagnostic procedure to diagnose a concussion after the fact. A concussion usually is suspected when any of a cluster of symptoms follow an impact to the head.

An MRI is used to rule out other causes of concussion like symptoms.

You have not told us anything about any previous concussions. I assume you suffered a concussion some months ago.

Please tell us about your concussion history, diagnostics, treatments and anything else you have been told. It appears you may have been given some poor information. This is not uncommon. Very few doctors really understand concussions.

Stress is the very worst thing you can do for a concussion. Stress will delay recovery and make symptoms much worse. It will also confuse doctors as they try to understand your symptoms.

So, slow down, cut back on your social life and activities that can put your head at risk. Read the Sticky at the top about Vitamins. It is the starting point for concussion recovery. There are good links at the bottom of the first post.

My best to you.

If you have post concussion symptoms then the last thing you should be thinking about is exercise unless it is low intensity.

The advice is simple - wait until all symptoms are gone before embarking on exercise.

Complete Concussion History-

I've received two confirmed mild concussions playing football. However, at the beginning of this year I crashed on my bike only four to five months after a previous concussion during football season. I self diagnosed this third concussion. My head never touched the ground when I crashed, but my fall created a whip-lash effect. I just found out in a recent MRI of my spine that my spine is curved, likely due to this accident. It wasn't until a period of increased stress, that I began to notice symptoms. Previous to this period of stress the only symptom I noticed was difficulty finding words (increased difficulty writing essays). I now notice that I read things the wrong way (reading words in the wrong order), I occasionally get spells of dizziness, still experience trouble finding words, and have trouble staring at a computer screen for any good length of time. Since most of this all started when I was under stress my parents are convinced it's all in my head. They believe that me being constantly consciousness of my head is what's causing it all, and that I'm fine. I mentioned that I recently went for two MRI's, one on my spine and one on my brain. My brain MRI came back perfectly fine, and my parents have used this as proof to back up the previous statement I mentioned. The fact is I 'am always conscious of my head. At one point I was anxious that something as small as crunching down on a carrot would worsen my PCS. I really don't know what's in my head and what's not. The unknowns that come with all of this really suck, that's one of the reasons I came seeking guidance and advice on this website. Yesterday I was wacked in the head and I now fear I suffered another blow. Exercising has always been a key part of my life, and I hate when I take time off of my fitness schedule. I quite simply don't have the option to sit in a dark room for a month or more with school and work every week. I know how serious concussions are, but at the end of the day I need to live and maintain a quality of life. I'm in the prime years of my youth and I've already spent a whole summer being paranoid over speed bumps in the car. If this is all in my head, I simply need to know so I can move on.

Sorry for the novel
-Will

Complete Concussion History-

I've received two confirmed mild concussions playing football. However, at the beginning of this year I crashed on my bike only four to five months after a previous concussion during football season.


I self diagnosed this third concussion. My head never touched the ground when I crashed, but my fall created a whip-lash effect. I just found out in a recent MRI of my spine that my spine is curved, likely due to this accident.


It wasn't until a period of increased stress, that I began to notice symptoms. Previous to this period of stress the only symptom I noticed was difficulty finding words (increased difficulty writing essays). I now notice that I read things the wrong way (reading words in the wrong order), I occasionally get spells of dizziness, still experience trouble finding words, and have trouble staring at a computer screen for any good length of time.


Since most of this all started when I was under stress my parents are convinced it's all in my head. They believe that me being constantly consciousness of my head is what's causing it all, and that I'm fine. I mentioned that I recently went for two MRI's, one on my spine and one on my brain. My brain MRI came back perfectly fine, and my parents have used this as proof to back up the previous statement I mentioned.


The fact is I 'am always conscious of my head. At one point I was anxious that something as small as crunching down on a carrot would worsen my PCS. I really don't know what's in my head and what's not. The unknowns that come with all of this really suck, that's one of the reasons I came seeking guidance and advice on this website.


Yesterday I was wacked in the head and I now fear I suffered another blow. Exercising has always been a key part of my life, and I hate when I take time off of my fitness schedule. I quite simply don't have the option to sit in a dark room for a month or more with school and work every week.


I know how serious concussions are, but at the end of the day I need to live and maintain a quality of life. I'm in the prime years of my youth and I've already spent a whole summer being paranoid over bumps in the car. If this is all in my head, I simply need to know so I can move on.

Sorry for the novel, and thanks for the responses
-Will

Stress seriously magnifies concussion symptoms and prevents proper healing and recovery. Your anxiety is not uncommon. No simple concussion will ever show up on an MRI. You would need a more serious injury for the MRI to show it.

Your options are, Take time for quiet rest and recover as soon as your brain can or continue at full pace with work and school and take months to years to recover.

Water exercise can be much less stressful and jarring.

You do not say your age. Hormone changes in the teens can magnify concussion symptoms.

Minimized screen time and especially smart phone screens and texting. Too much stress.

Read the Vitamins sticky at the top. You need to help your brain tolerate stress and purge from injury and stress toxins.

My best to you.

Thanks so much for the information. All this new information is a little scary to me, if you can understand. It seems like everyone on here has a horror story. Joining this site is either going to be very good thing, or a very bad thing in terms of anxiety. School's school and that's going to be constant whether I want it to be or not, but I'll try to see what I can do about work. I respect each and everybody's advice, but I'm going consult with a neurologist before taking these suggested supplements.

Thanks
-Will

Hi,

Maybe i can offer a piece of advice:

1) REST

My concussion also happened on a bike crash during a race. I made the huge mistake of trying to get back on the bike as soon as i could and i regret it.

2) RETURN GRADUALLY
Once you begin to feel better, try to increase your exercise load very gradually. If you don't have a Heart Rate Monitor, get one and learn to use it. If you start to get headaches or any other symptoms then stop and set that point as your threshold for the following sessions. If possible, workout on a stationary bike, remember that cycling can be a bit risky and you shouldn't expose yourself to potential crashes right now.