Hi everyone,

I’ve posted on and off here and have received helpful responses each time. I wanted to try again.

Two days ago, I went down to lift in my office gym. This was the first time I’ve lifted in probably 6-7 months and I went at it with greater intensity than I ever did before. After my lift, I went back up to the 9th floor of my building to grab groceries from the fridge. I hit my head on the bottom of the freezer door when trying to pull some of my groceries out.

On a scale of 1-10, I would give this hit 2-2.5. The pain was noticeable, but it felt like just another typical head bump that happens to all of us every now and then. Not a “Wow, I just hit my head” type of impact. I gathered my groceries, walked out and started to develop the panic attack like response that tends to accompany any bump to the head. My stomach got a little nauseous, my fingers got a little numb, and I noticed a headache starting to creep up, and the sense of worry start to loom. I went to join a few friends outside at a local grocery store and had one beer after my friend offered to buy me one (it’s stupid, but I didn’t want to upset or refuse his kindness).

Later Wednesday evening, I went home and had a mild headache. Most of the other symptoms (nausea, numbness, etc.) stopped – I noticed those definitely tend to be byproducts of anxiety rather than anything else.
However, as the anxiety dissipated the headache has remained. It’s been on and off, remaining somewhere between a 1 and a 3.5-4. Sometimes it’s there, sometimes it’s not – today, I woke up with a headache but as I write this, I don’t have one. I do feel a little “spaced out.”

In the past, I think most questions I’ve posted on this forum have come from a place of anxiety. Right now, though, I feel pretty level-headed and like I’m able to give a more “objective” outlook on my symptoms right now.

Last year, I posted about feeling symptoms from a heel-drop which Mark helped dispel as pure anxiety. Two weeks ago someone aggressively opened a bathroom door while I was walking out and that whacked me in the front of my head, right around the temple. I got anxious, felt a little woozy, but decided it was likely no big deal and went asymptomatic after a few hours.
As of right now, my symptoms include: on-and-off headache, spaced out, sleepiness (but I didn’t sleep well two nights ago and this isn’t unusual). I have not had any memory problems, sensitivity to light or noise (I live in a city, so I think I’d feel this), confusion, poor balance, ringing in the ears, difficulty thinking clearly, etc.

As silly as this sounds, I’m open to this being a concussion. If it is, I’d like to know my head is just that sensitive and go from there. It likely means that I’ve received far more concussions than I would hope for. I know I’ve received two, but I’ve had bouts like this maybe 8-10 times. I already live a healthy life, take supplements, and generally avoid anything that puts me at risk for a serious concussion.

I want to know what people think and I feel like most people here have a more nuanced and researched understanding of what constitutes a concussion and what doesn’t than many medical professionals.

Thank you kindly for your time and thoughts.

Sincerely,
Squash

I think you are struggling with 2 things. First, you took on an aggressive workout in the office gym. The body chemistry of that can be a struggle, especially if you have not worked up to the effort level over time.

2nd, You are paying too much attention to little things. Rating things as 2.5 ? The 1 to 10 rating system is a very general non-specific system. Your use of 2.5 or 4.5 suggests you are hyper-vigilant. It is an attitude thing.

I read an article a few days ago that spoke of how we train or wire our brains to respond in specific ways. You may benefit from learning to be less specific in your analysis of these issues.

Regarding the beer. A simple response to the offer could be. "The way my brain is feeling right now, I don't think a beer would be good. " or "I have a headache and beer has never helped when I have a headache. Thanks for the offer."

Just my 2 cents.

Mark, thank you as always for the response. To make sure I understand what you're saying, you feel like any symptoms I experience probably result from my hyper-vigilance?

Hitting my head is a huge fear for me, as I'm sure it is for many people here. I'm trying to restructure the way I think about hitting my head and get more realistic about the types of bumps that might cause damage. I think, finally, I'm trying to do the emotional work required to confront this deep-rooted fear.

As mentioned above, thank you for the response, Mark. I know this is a very real issue for many people here and I respect and take very seriously the implications concussions and other head trauma can have. Doing my best to live a cautious, but not an anxious, life.

If you are too anxious about any minor bump, you are reducing your ability to be coordinated to avoid them. Anxiety can totally mess up coordination. You end up diverting your attention away from some risks (tripping, etc.) while you over-focus on others.

Try to relax and let your normal perceptions and defense protect like they always have.

And, slowly reintroduce physical activities like exercise and lifting back into your life.

I agree, Mark. Too much worry makes it impossible to focus on your surroundings. You end up paying attention to what's inside your head rather than everything around you.

Before I completely dismiss this bump, I do have another question.

I have continued to wake up with tension like headaches which persist, on and off, throughout the day. They normally disappear the moment I stand up, fade when I'm in conversation with someone, and are most present when I'm left to myself. I occasionally feel "spaced out," like my brain goes radio silent. Not sure if that's normal for people and I'm just more attuned to it because I've been hyper-vigilant.

I have not felt any cognitive symptoms (my memory seems fine, my thinking seems fine, I'm following conversations as usual) and have not experienced light or noise sensitivity. I do get nauseous or feel my fingers get tingly/numb, but that mostly happens when my anxiety levels increase.

I think, one of the issues with this anxiety, comes from having no frame of reference for what constitutes a "minor bump." I know any hit can cause a concussion, but the pure statistical probability of a concussion probably increases as the amount of force increases.When we say "minor bumps," are you referring to things like a light elbow tap to the forehead, or a light-medium bump on the bottom edge of a freezer door? Minor bumps, being then, the things where you engage in the normal activities of life and these things just sort of happen? To me, every bump feels problematic (which is clearly a part of my fears and makes it hard to have a reasonable reaction to any hits).

Any insight and opinion, from anyone, would be much appreciated. I'm not trying to troll and I do apologize if any of my past posts have felt disrespectful and not acknowledged the seriousness of what many people here live with. I'm trying to figure out whether or not the symptoms I do experience after these head bumps come from my anxiety or from short-lived but evident concussions. I haven't exercised since Wednesday (aside from some neck stretches) and am planning to reintroduce running/lifting as I feel better/calm down.

Again, thank you deeply for your help, Mark, and anyone else who wants to post on this thread.

squash,

"I know any hit can cause a concussion, but the pure statistical probability of a concussion probably increases as the amount of force increases."

This is not true. It takes a minimum force to cause a concussion. Research suggest 50 to 60 G's as a concussion minimum. Many can tolerate 100 or more G's without suffering a concussion. The lesser impacts would be considered sub-concussive impacts. Alone, they are not a problem. If you engaged in an activity where you were subjecting your head to 10 of these a day over an extended period, there may be a concern.

But, the impacts you suggest would not even rate as sub-concussive impacts.

An impact can cause pain at the site due to trauma to the nerves in the skin without ever causing any trauma to the brain.

I think you have two issues to address.

1. Your neck. Stretches do not resolve cervical vertebra injuries. It takes careful and subtle manipulation and mobilization of the vertebra to help settle them into proper position. Then, it takes discipline with sleep posture to maintain that. Straight head and neck positions during sleep are important. If you feel stiff in your neck when you wake, you need to resolve that.

2. Your anxiety levels. It sounds like you look for symptoms. But, as you engage in your days activities, you stop looking for symptoms and they go away. You may be training your brain to focus on symptoms that are meaningless. You are training your brain to become anxious when there is any contact with your head. Stop that and get on with your life.

Hits happen. Move on. Just choose the level of risk you take. Contact sports, and physical activities that pose a direct risk to a head impact can be avoided. Living life cannot.

I can only say what my experiences are and my head is very sensitive and experiences I've heard about. I'm not good enough at telling if your symptoms are strictly anxiety or strictly the brain being sensitive to bumps. I will say that I can have symptoms without having anxiety.

Anxiety obviously makes things worse, but I probably wouldn't chalk up all symptoms to being anxiety. I jarred my head pretty good while coming down off a curb biking. It set me back for about a month. I also drifted into a curb in the winter (curbs...I know, lol) and I nailed it pretty good. I definitely had some anxiety at first, but calmed myself down and had no lasting problems.

I think each hit to the head/jarring of the head is different. It should be approached with something that calms you down if anxiety is the problem. I think socializing and meditation are the best things for me. If anxiety is not the problem, all that you can do is manage yourself the best that you can.

I don't hit my head often, but I know when I do, the majority of the time, symptoms are short-lived.

I have found curcumin to help quite a bit with this actually. I've heard one person say curcumin and quality fish oil help reduce the symptoms after these bumps to the head.

I get a bit worried about hitting my head at times,usually when I do there is an instant surge of adrenaline from the fear of expected symptoms...like last week when I swam into the end of the pool.

Today I walked into the garage door that wasn't as far along in its upward path as I thought ( looking at my phone). It was the first time in 2 years that I reacted like a normal person would, called myself an idiot for not looking where I was going and no adrenaline surge. Maybe that is progress.

I have been doing pretty good while skiing lately of not worrying about my head, I love my new helmet. Until my accident I always viewed people skiing with helmets as worriers and silly, that changed. Anyways, there are times when all of a sudden a panic about falling and bouncing my head around rushes upon me but I always remind myself I have never had a concussion from falling on skis.

It is amazing how many ways a one time incident can change life even though life is the same.

Bud

Mark, Jbuckl and Bud - thank you very much for the responses.

I have tried to take the advice about calming my anxiety and everyone's assessment that most of the symptoms I experience likely come from anxiety to heart.

However, I have continued to wake up with tension headaches (although the severity of the headache when waking up has decreased notably since last Thursday). I continue to feel "spaced out" occasionally. Sometimes, it feels like my brain is in danger from taking walks (people say it feels like their brain shakes when they walk - I wouldn't say that's how it feels, but it sort of feels like I'm trying to balance a big plate of dishes). I do get "sensitivity to noise," but mostly when my anxiety/fear overwhelms me and I just want to remove myself.

I understand anxiety might cause most of these symptoms. However, tension headaches (the kind I have when I wake up and the kind I have experienced throughout the day) are an abnormal anxiety response. i normally don't get headaches when anxious about things other than my head.

I've had two concussions. The first was from a skateboarding accident in 7th grade. I did not lose consciousness, but could not open my eyes, screamed "Help," someone came and grabbed me and I went to school the following morning just fine. Apparently I averaged 100s in my science class that year so I'm assuming this head injury did not affect my academic performance.

The second concussion was from a major car accident senior year of high school. The car rolled multiple times and stopped after landing in a tree. I lost consciousness for maybe 15-20 minutes, but did not have any lingering effects. My mom tells me I was totally fine afterwards. I remember the before and after as well. Listening to Blink 182 in the car, speaking in coherent sentences to the paramedics, the ER doctor, and going to a family friend's house.

I know that two concussions is two too many, but I also know, for most people, it's probably unlikely that I'd have such severe head sensitivity after them. But, I do know (from stories), that it is possible to concuss yourself from hitting your head on a fridge door, a cabinet, etc.

Among many other reasons for my interest in trying to figure out if it's likely I've developed a severe head sensitivity issues, there's a very practical one: I've been accepted to medical school and am "theoretically" attending. While in school, I don't want to hit my head on a fridge, lose all short/long-term memory capacity, and have to withdraw from medical school while 80, 160, 240, or 300K in debt.

I've seen doctors about these impacts before, but plan on seeing another one shortly. Thank you all for the continued words of encouragement and the very thoughtful advice. I am trying to keep myself rationale, but it is hard not to get emotional.

Sincerely,
Squash

Squash,

Train yourself to think and look before you move.

It can be done. I have worked around tractors and other farm equipment since a child, my job around crop dusters and moving props and ground support equipment absolutely requires it or you can die.

I tell employees do not take moving for granted...think!

This head stuff has further increased the need for thinking before moving.

Oh, don't text while walking towards an opening garage door like I did the other day, I found out the door wasn't going up as fast as I thought.

Bud