I was looking for a place to buy and there is this place that is cute, surrounded by trees. I know nothing about trees (so I am not sure what type) but I attached the pictures. I heard things falling from the trees from time to time.

Is this a bad idea for someone with concussion... to live near a tree where some kind of nut (?) might fall on their head?

Sorry for the silly question.

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It looks as if it's a really beautiful place. Peaceful. A peaceful setting would be good for you.

If you walk across a road you have to worry about cars.
If you walk up a steep mountain you have to worry about falling.
Lots of "ifs", look for the "buts".

When I was young our backyard was filled with coconut trees. If someone didn't get them down when they were ready then they would fall and hurt someone.

You should try not to worry too much. Put up an umbrella or shade sail if the nuts are concerning to you.

If you love the place and want to buy it, look for some practical solutions to ease your mind.

That is a big oak you have there.

We just had to have an old oak removed this week...it showed rings between 150-180 yrs!

Oaks don't drop branches quickly when they die, as they give you
notice ..they will hang there for a while rotting. If you see any of these you should have them pruned off.

But they can be expensive to remove when they die...very expensive.
The nuts do hurt if they hit you squarely on the head though.
We've had our cars dented on the roof parked under our other big oaks. Our oaks tend to only make acorns every other year. We don't know if that is because of their enormous old age, or if that is just what big trees do.

Here is a photo taken on Monday of the old oak next to our home:

Old oaks may need special acidic fertilizer to maintain health as they rob acid from the soil ... they get poor leaves that don't green up well and that is called chlorosis. We had this oak treated with 2 iron peg treatments in the wood, and also some deep feeding of the roots. This tree was dying when we moved in around 1971, and we stalled the inevitable death until now.

They are beautiful stately trees though. You'll just have to weigh the pros and cons.

I figured mrsD would know what type of tree it is.
Thanks for that. Not too many Oaks where I live.

Thanks, Lara. I forgot to add that the acorn is not big enough to cause a concussion, but they do hurt the scalp. Wearing a hat is enough to block that. There is a little point on the tip of the acorn, and that is what hurts, IMO.

You can also step on them and roll around and maybe fall depending on your balance. But where we live, the squirrels remove them pretty quickly.

The leaves are pretty thick and slippery too when wet. We find the clean up of them is more difficult than with other trees.

Thanks to all for your answers. How often does an Oak shed acorns? Is it mostly in the fall or year round (I read that some years are more plentiful than others but just wondering about the season).

Either way, I feel if I get hit by an acorn and somehow by luck the following day I am feeling bad, I will end up associating these two together. In other words, it takes courage for someone with concussion to accept that even tiny things will fall on his head from time to time...

Otherwise yes, beautiful place, I loved it... Searching for a place while feeling bad on most days seems a bad idea.. But I have been postponing moving out for two years now...

If an oak is going to make acorns (not all do this reliably)....it does it in the fall only. If the squirrels do not knock them off efficiently, they will remain longer on the branches. Then one would see them fall off into winter and spring. Usually where there are lots of oaks, there are lots of squirrels.


The spring pollen blows around so wind is necessary. As I stated above, our old oaks don't make acorns every year. When they do it is a quite an avalanche of them!

If the squirrels eat them in place, instead of carrying them off, then sharp bits remain and if you walk barefooted, you may damage your feet.

My husband was working on the stump yesterday, sealing it with wood preserver. We are going to put plant pots on it for summer and use it as a bird feeder shelf for winter. He tried to count the rings, and came up with 125-150. We counted back to when this house was built--- 1915... and he determined the tree then was 8 to 10 inches in diameter back then

So from your photo of that balcony... that tree appears much older than ours. It was of course not so close the the railing either in the past.

"Either way, I feel if I get hit by an acorn and somehow by luck the following day I am feeling bad, I will end up associating these two together. In other words, it takes courage for someone with concussion to accept that even tiny things will fall on his head from time to time... "

This is irrational thinking. You will benefit greatly if you can get successful help to overcome this issue. Otherwise, living a life of anxiety will be a constant struggle.

It doesn't take courage, it takes sound thinking.

I am not sure what is irrational. Symptoms are up and down. If they are down, we tend to think about what we did the day before (loud music, tiny bump,...) and learn.

I agree with you on the anxiety level though, ideally one should be less anxious. But when your whole life 'as you know it' is at risk, you try to take zero risks as much as possible.

Thanks for everyone's inputs. I have been off work now for 2 months, after that flight. Last year I also took 2 months after a flight. I haven't seen many PCS cases with such a sensitivity to flying.

It is irrational to think the weight of a falling acorn can cause damage. If the acorn was of the variety with a sharp point or the stem hit you straight on, there might be an extremely minor skin trauma with some annoyed nerves.

An acorn weight 3 to 6 grams. A human head weight 4500 to 5000 grams. An acorn falling from 30 feet, exerts less than 0.12 to 0.25 G's max on a human head. The acorn may sting but will not inflict any movement force to the brain. You exert far more force on the brain turning your head from side to side or up and down as in yes/no.

As I have said many times, walking down a flight of stairs or even sitting down in a chair can exert 2 to 3 G's or more.

The only way to avoid such everyday risks is to stay in bed. There are obvious risks that can be avoided, contact sports and other more aggressive activities.

You have a choice. Live with anxiety which will surely negatively effect your brain and mental health or accept that life is imperfect and hits happen. Anxiety will change your reaction time and possibly put you at greater risk. Being too reactive is also an increased risk as one tends to jerk more violently during a startle.

Hopefully, you can see the value in resolving your anxiety and irrational thoughts.

I hope you can find help to get better in this regard.