Bumping this. So the migraines I get for a week after something as innocent as getting headbunted by my g/f is a concussion? Grazing my head on a car door and getting a painful bruise and waking up with spots is another concussion?

Jeez, so how does this work in the grand scheme of healing? Do these little bumps cause recovery to pretty much reset?

Inflammation
 

It all has to do with inflammation. When you get a concussion, your brain goes into protection mode. Now, if your brain had sustained some type of infection, this is a good thing because it will stave off the infection from spreading and doing more damage. However, with a blunt force injury, this is a catastrophic thing. The glia within your brain, which are responsible for protecting your brain, begin to divide in order to protect your brain from more damage. Well, this actually winds up causing more damage then what was originally incurred.

This is actually how the neurosteroid progesterone works for acute brain injuries. It acts as an anti-inflamatory agent in the brain by preventing the aforementioned catastrophic cascade from occurring.

Now, when you get a second concussion before your brain is healed, this sets off the inflammatory response again only it takes a much smaller hit to cause the cycle to begin because your threshold is much lower than before. In other words, your glia are ready and waiting for another insult to happen and because of this, the glia will respond to any thing that happens to your brain regardless of force.

Scientists are actually discovering that with mild tbi's, the impact is actually no big deal. It is the consequent actions of the glia that cause the most damage.

So, what can be done at this point? Well, one suggestion is to get into contact with a doctor who administers glutathione injections. Glutathione is a powerful anti inflammatory agent (although not as powerful a progesterone). The next time you bump your head, go in and ask for an injection of 6 mg of glutathione. You may need to get a couple of these before you begin to feel better. And, not many conventional MD's do this, but many ND's and a few OD's do.

Also, probably in the near future progesterone will be prescribed in ER rooms for people with brain injuries. So, when you bump your head and feel concussed, a simple visit to the ER will suffice to bring down your symptoms.

Also, also, the idea in recovering from a head injury is to bring down the inflammation and speed up the brain. This is where neurofeedback and other therapies come into play. Get the inflammation to go down with rest and speed up the brain with therapy.


You should also not get too discouraged by this. This is all theory because scientists still don't know exactly what happens when you bump your head. Also, it may be that when you slightly bump your head, you do cause the inflammation to happen but it doesn't cause any damage. Hence the feeling of getting better after a week thing.

Well, since I've been using Brain Age for a bit. I'd thought I'd say.

It's very useful when looking at trends. About a week ago I nicked my head on the side of the car, causing a bruise or something painful to appear there. Anyways, a week later and it seems like the bruise disappeared. Although now my scalp is kinda tingly. (Usual I guess.) I think that my vision is getting worse, but I took my Brain Age today and... It's at 21. A new low. Strange.

I took the memory test (They have you memorize 25 numbers) and I ended up remembering 22 of them. A new high.

I dunno, I'd figure at around this time if it was a concussion my brain would be further down the stupidity rabbit-hole. So I guess I'm safe?

Eddy,

I would suggest not trying to read too much into your Brain Age either way. It is a great exercise but not a good diagnostic. It may show trends but there are too many other factors that can effect the results.

You need to get very serious about avoiding head bumps. Your girl friend needs to understand you needs to avoid them. You will also benefit from learning some preventive behaviors. For instance, Before I get out of a car, I stop my other activities so that I can focus on the task of getting out of the car without bumping my head. I have many skills like this that are now almost subconscious in nature.

I have to be careful when wearing a hat. They obstruct overhead obstacles.

** the impact force is of little consequence. It is more important to understand the inflammation response of the glia is not directly related to impact force. This concept has been difficult for some professionals to accept. They think it is illogical for impact force to not be directly related to the brain's response/damage.

They will commonly say, "You did not hit your head hard enough to do any damage." This comment is patently wrong.

It is like the saying, "On any given Sunday, any NFL football team can beat any other NFL football team, regardless of their past record."

Just remember, minor bumps can be major problems. A rotational injury can easily be the most devastating. The boxing industry has realized that a knock out is easier to cause with a rotational punch that a jab. The hook to the jaw causes a rotational impact that can be devastating.

Yup, I got a new symptom. My sensitivity to sound has increased. Crap.

Also, I wonder. Right before the "bad" comes. I swear some of my symptoms disappear. Most notably my vision seems to sort of recover. My thinking also speeds up. Then the next day or two it's crap city.

Eddy,

I think you may be trying to do too much self diagnosis. You need to take a much longer term approach. The short term ups and downs will drive you nuts. The resultant stress will be counter productive to healing and/or learning skills to improve your life.

There are quite a few of us here who have been through the ups and downs many times over a long period of time. It has been over 40 years of them for me.

Learn to stabilize your life to prevent future risks.

Learn the skills needed to minimize the functional limitations caused by your symptoms.

Learn to accept those symptoms that you cannot overcome with work-arounds. If they improve after more time, great. If not, you have not wasted time worrying over them.

The best way to look at your symptoms is to minimize your awareness of them. Then, after time has passed, say a few months, you might have a "Eureka" moment and realize that you just did something that you could not do before. Or you realize that you have not experienced a return of a specific symptom in a long time.

The "Eureka" moments can then be fabulously uplifting.

I go on with life as if I don't have any negative symptoms. I accept not driving as a normal characteristic of my life.

I do not plan or expect perfection in my activities of daily living (ADL's). My wife treats me the same way.

If she asks me something that needs my memory to answer, I will try to remember but if the memory does not come readily, I will just answer that I don't remember. I don't fret about it and neither does she. We go on.

Sometimes, I will be able to recall an amazing amount of information and detail. Other times, it is like my memory slate has been wiped clean without a clue that the memory was ever there.

I have memory tricks that work sometimes and not other times. That is the life of PCS.

So, give yourself and your brain a break. Then go live your life.

I am currently struggling with the same thing. I have to travel to my work and it's about a mile away from my home. There are numerous speed bumps and potholes I have to face daily to and from my workplace. I am not sure if these slight jolts and bumps to my head are giving me a concussion again and I am worried I am interrupting my recovery over and over again. While I have been assured that these small bumps aren't an issue this thread puts me in concern and makes me rethink. What a mess! I have had only one concussion so I guess I shouldn't worry too much as Mark says

Galaxy,

This thread has been dormant for over 4 years.

Regarding riding on a rough road, it will helped greatly if you ride with your head and shoulders forward, sort of humped over. The allows your back to flex and absorb more of the bumps. I have lived with this problem for 14 years. Keeping your shoulders away from the back of the seat with your head forward will be a big improvement.