1 month ago I hit my head quite hard when I jumped out of a bench and hit my head against a balcony. It's likely that I had a concussion, at least a mild one, but I haven't been to a doctor so I'm not 100% sure.

The bad part of it is that I absolutely ignored it and treated my brain really badly (was sleeping very little, sometimes 4hrs per night, absolutely no cognitive or physical rest, rather the opposite) and day after injury I even ran 5k competition (I had no worrisome symptoms during the competition, but after few hours I developed headache and started to feel nauseous and a bit dizzy)

Now it's 4 weeks and I developed insomnia. I used to fall asleep within matter of minutes and sleep more than 10hrs on weekend, now I really struggle falling asleep and barely sleep more than 8 hrs. In addition, I have a mild pressure in head. What should I do next? Can I somehow reverse damage I have done? Or have I totally doomed myslef?

Arwyn,

Welcome to NeuroTalk.

There is no way to 'backup' and treat your concussion. But, there is also no guarantee that if you had rested after the impact, you would be any better today.

I doubt a doctor would have been able to accurately diagnose such a mild concussion. You have the better perspective.

What did you feel immediately after the impact ? Did you feel dazed ? Any vision irregularities, even for just a few seconds ? Any odd taste in your mouth ?

At this point, I suggest you try to not get caught up in anxiety over your bump. For many, anxiety of this type just makes everything worse. Try to limit stressful activities. Reduce your caffeine and alcohol intake to a single serving per day. Reduce stimulation an hour or even 2 hours before going to bed. Even then, don't get in bed until you feel sleepy. Try to get the same amount of sleep every night. Trying to catch up or sleep in on the weekends tends to disrupt sleep patterns. If you sleep 8 hours every night, that is fine.

You could read the Vitamins sticky at the top. It has a lot of good information. When you get a headache, try icing the back of your neck. The Vitamins sticky has a recipe for a home made crushable ice pack.

Aspirin or ibuprofen can help with headaches.

Most important. Don't scour the internet about concussions. It will just feed anxiety and make matters worse. Anxiety causes a chemical reaction in the brain that magnifies any concussion problems by preventing the brain from getting back to normal.

My best to you.

Thanks for advice,

I felt nothing strange during the impact, I was taken aback a little but only for a second, I really forgot there's a balcony above me xD but not dazed, no vision irregularities and I don't think I had any odd taste in mouth.

But struggling to fall asleep really threw me off, as I read it is a sign of concussion (that's what I shouldn't do, right? ) I was usually sleep deprived during a week, and during a weekend I was cathing up and could sleep more than 10hrs, whenever I lay on bed I fell asleep within minutes, now it's not so easy. But it may have another cause as well. I often have more anxiety than I should, so maybe that's making the things worse.

I was curious if I should have some rest for a week or so as I didn't have it right after the impact, to allow the brain to heal in case it was a mild concussion.

Thanks again for your advice, I will try to follow it and see if it helps.

Best regards,.

Arwyn

If your only symptom is the insomnia, I doubt it is due to the head impact. Many things can disrupt sleep patterns. As you noted, anxiety can. I suggest you read about sleep hygiene. Maybe that will help you. I need to start getting ready to go to sleep about 2 hours before I do. Too much stimulation delays my getting to sleep.

My best to you.