Hello all,

I slipped on my back during work last year (2019) and thought I may have received a concussion, since I felt a bit dazed and out of it, but had no LOC. After a visit to the ER and a clear CT scan, the docs thought i was not concussed, but thought I should follow up with a neuro in the future.

Since then, I had be making great recovery, and I truly thought I was back to normal. I also have a had a few head bumps since then, but I was alright.

I'm very concerned this time around because bumped my forehead on the rear of the car while trying to get my cat out from under my car (his leash was tangled under the wheel) on Wednesday October 10th. I was startled and worried if I had caused myself damage. I don't think I re-concussed myself, but I had a headache for 2 days after that. No light sensitivity or reading issues, or metallic tastes. No vomiting. My main symptoms now are slight processing issues, head pressure, and not feeling my emotions that strongly.
I don't know if that was a sub-concussive impact; or if I did damage, but I'm upset because I was doing so well before this setback. Is this just anxiety/hypochondria/depression ?

Any advice ore responses are greatly appreciated.

Hopeful,

Welcome to NeuroTalk.

Your don't really say what your injury was. "Slipped on my back...."

Did you hit your head or just get whiplash or....?

Bumping your head under the car with no description of any immediate symptoms is just a bump.

It sounds like your concern is about possible damage and such. That is a dangerous thought process to continue. Many ruin their lives by worry about "Did I cause brain damage when I laid down too fast on my pillow?" or when I bumped the door frame as I got out of the car or any of a myriad of head contacts

As you say, The bump startled you. That suggests an anxiety response. Anxiety can cause a person to feel out of it.

An undiagnosed upper neck injury from whiplash or other head/neck trauma can cause almost every symptom that a true concussion can cause.

Thank you for the reply, Mark. I believe my incident last year was more a case of whiplash as my neck was noticeably more sore/stiff. I don't recall hitting my head with that fall.
Since anxiety can mimic symptoms, I can understand why I might be feeling the way I do, but I'm surprised that the effects of anxiety could really be that powerful.

I do admit that I struggle with health anxiety, and this can sometimes have me overreacting to events like this. When I got over the anxiety of my fall last year, I had a great summer and things were normal,
so maybe my current anxiety of this accidental bump is also giving me symptoms. I know its about 60-90 Gs to cause a concussion injury, and I hope my head impact on the car was a lot less than that.

It will take some time before I can settle myself and remove my feelings from the bump and the effects from my concussion anxiety. Since I was back to normal after my accidents, I think I should recover from this as well,
even if there is a part of me that doesn't believe that yet. The headache I received from the bump lasted only 2 days and I currently have light pressure and feel off, which could really be just anxiety;
my main worry is whether or not bumping that car was a great enough force to be 60-90 Gs, and be concussive.

I think if was not concerned about bumps & concussions, I would have accepted and ignored the bump without a second thought.
I do think I've made progress in overcoming my anxiety, but incidents like this bring me back to a fearful place.

Explore the sticky threads, and use the search tool to find past explanations on G forces..
An accidental bump on a bumper does not have near enough force.

Hopeful,

Try to imagine this as similar to 60 Gs. Drop a 16 pound bowling ball 12 inches.

You would need to be moving very quickly to experience anything close to 60 Gs when you bumped your head under the car.

I've worked under cars for 50+ years and bumped my head plenty of times. I never experienced anything close to a concussion except when a 200 pound transmission fell 6 inches onto my head and smashed my head into the concrete.