Hey everyone, I am still a ways from a complete recovery but my symptoms seem to be lessening as the days go by. However hypothetically when I recover if I were to hit my head again, what should be my first few actions within a week of hitting my head?

A few years ago when I was knocked unconscious in a rugby game, within 2 hours after the game I smoked some recreational weed and it took me a few days to recover.

Also I've come across many articles and people who say that complete cognitive rest within the first few days to a week as well as potentially cbd within the first day or two, will minimize recovery time.

This is all hypothetical however like most people I am afraid for a time in the future where I may hit my head again and would be interested to hear what people have to say with regards to minimizing damage and recovery time.

The best research says rest for 48 hours then try to return to low stress activities. The important part is to encourage good blood flow to the brain after this short rest period. They find that resting beyond 48 hours is counter-productive. It is almost universally suggested to not push through symptoms but to let symptoms guide activity levels. They do not see a benefit to the dark room rest concept except when light is a trigger of symptoms. Even then, simple reduction in exposure to bright light can help. Sunglasses, hats, and avoiding some bright environments is often adequate.

The goal is to help the brain flush toxins out while not causing more toxins from stress. Concussion is a process that cascades over a few days, not a single point in time event.

The jury is still out on when CBD is helpful. There are some in the NFL who claim it should be taken immediately after the concussion. The therapeutic dose appears to be quite high. One would need high concentrate CBD taken in a high absorption form. One could not smoke enough to get to those dosage levels.

One train of thought is that a single serving of alcohol in the evening can help with relaxation to prepare for sleep. The idea is that good relaxing sleep has more benefits that the negatives of a single serving of alcohol

It is impossible to use past experiences to project future concussion symptoms and recovery. Every concussion is different.

It is helpful to learn to moderate stress so that one can be proactive to not cause unnecessary stress after a head impact. One may not know the severity of a head impact for a day or two so living a low stress life for those first few days is worthwhile.

The only way to minimize damage is to avoid the head hit. There is not a way to make the head hit less damaging. Helmet often do not reduce impact forces at the lower impact levels many with PCS need. They are better at reducing high impact forces. Reducing risk without becoming paranoid about head bumps is best. An irrational fear of head bumps can cause distraction and poor coordination that result in more head bumps.

How are you doing with your therapies ?

I follow most of these things currently:

Omega-3s (Fish oil)--read Dr. Michael Lewis's protocol and book, When Brain's Collide. This one's easy: take fish oil. But make sure it's a good quality one.

Curcumin, NAC, polyphenols/flavonoids, HBOT, healthy food--the brain's metabolism doubles after head injury, MCT/coconut oil. The brain becomes unable to process glucose after injury. Ketones can prevent lots of damage, hence the MCT/coconut oil. Ketosis is a thought, but not a diet to be on long-term for most people and isn't for everyone.

A gradual return to activity--like Mark said above--following the 48 hours of little to no stimulus.

Exercise has also been shown to be beneficial.

If symptoms don't resolve after 6 weeks or so, look into other therapies--vision therapy, vestibular therapy, chiropractor, etc.

I've had this question myself, and this is what I have come up. I still have far to go in my recovery, but I feel had I done these things early into mine, I'd be in a different situation.

I got a long life ahead of me and though I don't plan on doing anything to get another concussion, accidents happen.

Yes, gobble Omega-3 with high percents of DHA. It is the building block of brain tissue and is also an anti-inflammatory and blood thinner.

Enjoy fatty bacon or pork too. It has the highest quantity of branched chain amino acids.

Unless one is diagnosed with an inability to process glucose, fasting to cause ketosis can be counterproductive. An inability to metabolize glucose would often manifest as seizures and a few other severe symptoms. There is no such thing as a moderate ketogenic diet. It is an either/or situation. Coconut oil is a good fat but don't waste your money on MCT oil. If you are eating a healthy diet, you will never achieve ketosis.

Dr Hartch has still not published evidence that HBOT improves outcomes other than anecdotal reports. Many of us would like to see it proven effective so we can try to get insurance reimbursement. But, it takes thousands of dollars of treatments before one would know if it helps them.

Use a concentrated curcumin extract with pepper extract. 6 horse pills a day would not be too much. Don't waste your time with turmeric powder. It's cheap but does not have much active curcumin in it.

Be sure to get adequate supplements of magnesium (not in mag oxide form).

BUT, in my opinion, a full PCS/brain health supplement regimen should be a standard regimen, even in times of low PCS symptomology.

Got a few questions for you guys.

So I recently got a SPECT brain scan done and its in Chile right now being "read" accurately however the report indicates mild hypoperfusion in the right<left parietal lobes, wondering what that means?

My eyes having been 24/7 strained since doing some focusing eye exercises incorrectly by focusing with my peripherals, so I've been looking into getting prism glasses

Still having decent nausea, seasick/carsick/too many beers type of nauseous, however as far as forehead headaches I only get one when I overdo it exercising, using my eyes or if I don't wear the glasses I was given with a red tint. I do occasionally get headaches behind my ears, sometimes on the side of my head, and on the base of my skull. My neck is sore alot and sometimes when I move my head in weird motions I have neck pains.

Does this sound like mainly an eye issue, as well as slowly building up my exercise and vertigo or does it also include some neck issues?

Hypoperfusion means less than normal blood flow. Mild suggests it shouldn't be a big concern.

There is plenty of online descriptions of parietal lobe functions and dysfunctions. Honestly, I suggest you NOT research the parietal lobe. Many will see a long list of possible symptoms and soon some of those symptoms start manifesting. This can hamper proper diagnosis and treatment because the doctor has to sort between the real physical symptoms and those that the mind has exaggerated through the power of suggestion.

I strongly recommend you adopt behaviors to reduce neck symptoms, especially sleep posture. Inflammation in the neck, especially upper neck can reduce some of the blood flow to the brain. I had a serious problem with this for a few years until I resolved my neck.

How did you resolve your neck? and are you saying it should be a big concern?

Also are my eyes strained because of my neck or is my neck sore because of my eyes? or a bit of both?

Just trying to get an understanding if I should pursue a chiro or vision therapy or both. Thanks.

My PCS brain dyslexia erred from what I meant to say. I edited to correct my comment.

Often, the subtle neck issues do not show up in any diagnostic procedure. But, avoiding bad neck posture during sleep will help with improvements. Much of the healing with PCS is due to us changing our behavior so our body can heal. A chiro can only treat momentarily. It is up to us to not strain our neck during sleep or activities.

For me, I put two and two together when I realized that I had my worst days when I slept crooked and often would have stressful dreams. My wife could predict my day by how I was sleeping early in the morning when she got up. If I was sleeping with a straight head and neck, I would have a peaceful look on my face and breathing quietly and smoothly. If I was not in a good position, I would have a strained look on my face and be breathing unevenly.

Not every symptoms has a direct connection to a cause. Your eyes could be strained because you are not sleeping good leaving your brain easily fatigued because you are not sleeping with good posture. Nobody can say exactly.

Some keep a journal of daily activities and symptoms to see if they can find a correlation between them.

More later, pollen from mowing the lawn is killing my eyes.
Made some more edits. My brain is thinking backwards today.

Ookay sounds goods, gonna work on better sleep posture however sleeping on my stomach for so long before a few months ago, I find it extremely difficult to fall asleep on my back and always revert to my side. Got any tips for good sleeping posture and how to maintain that throughut the night.

I thought so to but I took some allergy medication and even eye drops to and it did nothing. Also I find my headache gets worse and pressure in the head increases when I start to overdo my eyes or go on screens.

Sleeping on your stomach is the worst position for your neck. Sleeping on your side is better and sleeping on your beck is best. It is a learned behavior. When on your side, you need to use a pillow that does not let your head tip to the side. I bunch mine until it support my head properly.

I had to learn to sleep on my side because I have carpal tunnel syndrome. Sleeping on my side caused me to sleep on my wrist making it worse. Wearing splints to bed made sleeping on my back much easier because side sleeping was even less comfortable.

I do a lot of sleeping in a recliner. I often get my best sleep in a recliner, especially when I am struggling in bed.