Concussions

[BeFitty8_F32]

Have you ever had a concussion...and didnt hit your head?

By all means, please share your story if you have hit your head, but I find it a new and surprising thing that concussions happen without a hard impact to the head.

tldr; I hit my ass (tail bone) so hard it caused a concussion.

I like to rollerblade for cardio sometimes. Breaks up the monotony of running and adds a little speed for fun. I wore myself out one day recently and decided it was time to head home. Once in the area of my house, I wanted to work on my quick stops. I may have been a little too tired, because on one of my stops, I didnt plant right, the blades came out from under me and I landed directly on my tail bone. Immediate thought was I broke it because I have heard of so many people doing that. While going through this thought process, I rolled over onto my knees to start the self check. Ass hurts. Slightly nauseous...probably from the sudden shock of a hard landing. Slightly dizzy...maybe from being tired and the sudden shock of a hard landing. I dont feel confident to get back on wheels and limp into my garage. One blade off at a time while on my knees. I convince myself I am getting used to being nauseous and the dizziness is from being tired and the sudden injury.
I manage to make it 5 or 6 steps before blacking out.
All I remember is thinking I can limp it inside and lick my wounds. Then somehow that thought process changed into, my grass looks soft I need to go there. The next thought is why do I have grass in my mouth?
Called the GF to come out and help and thats when I realized I kept going into shock every time I stood up. I had a concussion.
Military training kicked in and I had my GF raise my feet above my head for around 5 minutes until I felt better. Gradually made my way to my feet and inside the house.

I have never heard of anyone getting a concussion from their tail bone...aka spine. Makes sense now that I have done some Google-Fu.

[RugbyBro]

I've had 5 recorded and many more unrecorded (martial arts, football, rugby) - it's changed my life, especially after the last one. As Dale Earnhardt Jr. said: it's like version 2 of your life. Some things to consider:

1. Whiplash (vertical or lateral) is a very common cause of concussion - you do not need to have a direct impact to get one. Anytime there is an extreme deceleration of the body, your brain can rock inside of your skull. My 4th, I broke an arm tackle but the guy grabbed my jaw so my head twist as I broke the gain line which whipped my head forward... knew instantly after that something wasn't right. My 5th I ran full tilt with my shoulder into the side wall of a racket ball court - for context, I have above average speed/power so I picked up a ton of speed right into the concrete wall while trying to make a play. Whiplash will definitely do it.

2. It's commonly accepted that it takes ~60g's of force to cause a concussion (less if you've had prior ones). In stark contrast it can take as little as 2g's to cause whiplash. The unfortunate reality of head injuries is that concussions and neck injuries share virtually all of the same symptoms. It's extremely easy to confuse PCS with whiplash and vice versa. Your head, neck, and face have an extremely intricate network of various nerves which can get triggered regardless of which root cause is the culprit.

It does sound like you got a concussion given the blackouts. It's easy to assume that the initial symptoms correlate to the severity of the TBI, but that's not necessarily true, as it's usually measured by the duration of recovery. I'd say take it easy, don't rush back to anything, and see a doctor or neurologist ASAP if you aren't getting better. PCS can very easily become a long term issue if you do not manage it correctly - trust me on this...

[PittsDriver]

Originally Posted by BeFitty8_F32

Have you ever had a

tldr; I hit my ass (tail bone) so hard it caused a concussion.

Was your head up your ....never mind.

[overcoil]

Thats is a crazy scenario, from roller blading to passing out.

I'd google pupil dilation test after a brain injury. Something your GF can perform.

[br438]

Originally Posted by BeFitty8_F32

Have you ever had a concussion...and didnt hit your head?



I have never heard of anyone getting a concussion from their tail bone...aka spine. Makes sense now that I have done some Google-Fu.

Sorry for your injury. That is a very direct link up the spine. - sounds like a pretty forceful acceleration event for your head innards.

-hope you feel better soon.

[EricVR4]

Originally Posted by RugbyBro

I've had 5 recorded and many more unrecorded (martial arts, football, rugby) - it's changed my life, especially after the last one. As Dale Earnhardt Jr. said: it's like version 2 of your life. Some things to consider:

1. Whiplash (vertical or lateral) is a very common cause of concussion - you do not need to have a direct impact to get one. Anytime there is an extreme deceleration of the body, your brain can rock inside of your skull. My 4th, I broke an arm tackle but the guy grabbed my jaw so my head twist as I broke the gain line which whipped my head forward... knew instantly after that something wasn't right. My 5th I ran full tilt with my shoulder into the side wall of a racket ball court - for context, I have above average speed/power so I picked up a ton of speed right into the concrete wall while trying to make a play. Whiplash will definitely do it.

2. It's commonly accepted that it takes ~60g's of force to cause a concussion (less if you've had prior ones). In stark contrast it can take as little as 2g's to cause whiplash. The unfortunate reality of head injuries is that concussions and neck injuries share virtually all of the same symptoms. It's extremely easy to confuse PCS with whiplash and vice versa. Your head, neck, and face have an extremely intricate network of various nerves which can get triggered regardless of which root cause is the culprit.

It does sound like you got a concussion given the blackouts. It's easy to assume that the initial symptoms correlate to the severity of the TBI, but that's not necessarily true, as it's usually measured by the duration of recovery. I'd say take it easy, don't rush back to anything, and see a doctor or neurologist ASAP if you aren't getting better. PCS can very easily become a long term issue if you do not manage it correctly - trust me on this...

From someone else who's had at least 3 concussions (that I know of), all of this is spot on. Sounds like you have one from whiplash, especially from the blackout as RugbyBro pointed out.

As already stated too, please rest fully and let your brain/everything else heal. PCS is an absolute bitch and can last for months (or years) in some cases. There are definite things that change with you after concussions and none of it is fun, plus the long term studies of what they can do to the brain is also pretty unnerving. Rest up!

[e90335e36m3]

I did hit my head on the floor as a baby...bam...hemiparesis...then at 23, bam seizure. Not a fun things to have. Wish it was just a concussion.

[floridaorange]

My Dad suffers from CTE from his college football days, if anyone else has a Dad with CTE they can relate with the problems the entire family has as a result. I've had 1 or 2 during a lacrosse game….

[TheWatchGuy]

never heard of getting one from falling on your ass.

Ive had 5 that were diagnosed by a dr/medical professional and another few that I didnt have anyone officially check me out, but had friends/family give me the quick finger follow and pupil check. Starting at age 13ish and my last one was age 22ish.

if you still have symptoms after a few days, probably best to head to a dr. im not sure what kind of treatments they have now, but head injuries are not something to play around with and one of my biggest regrets is not treating mine more seriously. Long and Short Term memory loss, headaches, confusion, etc. are all things i deal with constantly, even 12 years after my last one. The last one I had affected my personality and mood as well. Not a ton, but people close to me noticed.

[T-Dubbs]

I got a concussion in high school while playing rugby.. went to a specailty Dr and had many MRI's.

I did develop type 1 diabetes 8 month afterwards... and also know another guy my age had multiple concussions (from AA hockey) and then developed type 1 diabetes, Both of us have ZERO family history of any kind of diabetes.




I'm no Doctor, but i found it interesting that two friends both went through similar events and outcomes with concussions and Diabetes. Not sure if head trauma could cause type 1 diabetes, but it seemed to in our situations.

[F32Fleet]

Originally Posted by floridaorange

My Dad suffers from CTE from his college football days, if anyone else has a Dad with CTE they can relate with the problems the entire family has as a result. I've had 1 or 2 during a lacrosse game….

What position did he play?

I gave a few myself but was never in the receiving end however I absolutely loved to hit so I wonder what's in store for me when I reach my 60's and over.

[floridaorange]

Center lineman. My Dad also has diabetes.

[NealfromNZ]

Got delay concussion syndrome about 10 years back whilst competing in a road tarmac motorcycle hill climb. Fortunately it was in a slower section of the course so hit the deck at 45-60 mph. On the day I seemed ok and ambulance staff did the usual test such as reflex, day of the week , current prime minister etc. I rode home as bike was still rideable and in road trim. I almost had two further accidents through lack of concentration, clearly shouldn’t have been riding at that point.

Next day , went to work , but boss sent me home after I attended a meeting. Was clear that cognectivity I wasn’t present. Went home and rested for a couple of days.

Over the coming months it was clear that brain wasn’t performing, and I’d fall asleep frequently and got headaches in the side where my helmet hit the ground. Computational skills had become low and I was struggling with staffs IT engineering documents. After about month 4 it was clear damage had been done. Short term memory was shot and mental fatigue was high.

I finally reached out to get some medical help and was referred to a head clinic. Basically the damage was done and I embarked on a program of rebuilding neural pathways. I set myself a series of short term protects and re-learnings. Each built on the last. Over a 3 year period Brian function returned back to quite good with the only issue now is short term memory isn’t what it used to be.

What I did find though is that if you have delayed concussion much of the learnings about stroke rehabilitation applies. There are some really good online learning sites with puzzles and things , but patience’s is required and it can take some time for the mind to heal and rebuild. These days I’m back to reading and comprehension of engineering docs is good again. And personality side I’m back to former rather than the tired grumpy person I was initially.

[floridaorange]

I hear you but I'm betting your not 70 yrs old?
Happy you found some ways of helping yourself. My Dads brain was scanned some yrs ago - it's a mess from football.

[NealfromNZ]

Originally Posted by floridaorange

I hear you but I'm betting your not 70 yrs old?
Happy you found some ways of helping yourself. My Dads brain was scanned some yrs ago - it's a mess from football.

Happened when I was 45.