Take care of your head - Concussions suck

Triathlon Forum
1

I probably don’t need to say this to this crowd, but always wear your helmet. Concussions suck.

I was doing a warm-up lap for a cyclocross race last weekend and dumped it. Wasn’t going all that fast, didn’t really get hurt that bad, but hit my head. I was wearing my helmet. At the time I didn’t remember anything that happened, but rode up to the staging area. When they dropped the start signal, everything started to go black, I got dizzy, and found myself dead last at the first turn. I felt like Cheech and Chong in Up In Smoke where they’re sitting in the median. I pulled off and recorded my first CX DNF.

The rest of the morning was a blur, and is still mostly forgotten. My buddy talked me into visiting the med tent where a lady ran me through a concussion protocol. Luckily, I wasn’t driving home. When we got home, I rested the rest of the day and the headache continued to build.

The next morning, the headache lessened but persisted and I went to an immediate care facility near my house. She diagnosed me as having a severe concussion and whiplash. I had landed on my shoulder - not hard - but enough to snap my neck sideways. I was ordered to rest and avoid computers, reading, thinking too hard, strenuous exercise, etc. As a bike fitter by night and IT team lead by day, this is pretty hard to do - I thrive on mental challenges. I ended up taking all of last week off in what was quite possibly the most boring week of my life. Lots of sleeping, lots of Tylenol (I really need to contact them about being my race sponsor), lots of not doing a whole lot. My head hurts all the time to some extent, and there is numbness in my left cheek (the side of impact). I get dizzy when moving at all. Constant tinnitus in both ears. Balance issues. Forgetting everything. Going to Lowe’s on Saturday was completely overwhelming and I gave up looking for what I was looking for and went home empty-handed.

My regular doctor confirmed the severe concussion, and is getting me in with a Neurologist. Other than that, it’s pretty much just “give it time.” I am back to work today, but this sucks. The plan is to take naps at lunch all week to just survive the week.

As a bike fitter, I talk with people about concussions and the effects on our movement all the time. Now I’m on the other side of the desk, and can unfortunately speak from experience. My hardware is mostly fine, but my software is jacked up. The difficulty of putting together a coherent sentence or even walking without stumbling is frustrating. If you thought I was a dumbass before, you should see me now. I have to put a lot of energy into my balance. It will take time to get back to 100%. I’ve had a few hard hits to the head in the last two months (other MTB race crashes, coaching soccer and getting beaned by exuberant 10-year-old girls with pretty decent kicks, etc.). There may be an accumulative effect, in this case.

Anyway, I guess I share this as a PSA: Make sure you and your kids are wearing their helmets. It might not take much. I’m really lucky I was wearing mine. It wasn’t even a YouTube-worthy crash, and yet here I sit, constant headaches, constant dizziness, near constant confusion. My 'cross season is done. I’m not sure where I’d be right now if I wasn’t wearing a helmet. I get pissed at my neighbors whose kids don’t ever wear a helmet, because they will talk my girls out of wearing theirs. It’s not a fashion show.

Take care of yourselves. I give a shit about all of you, whether you like it or not.

Oh, and most importantly: My 'cross bike, Loretta, is OK. Handlebars and hoods were knocked out of whack, but that’s all.

2

Went through this last year after a dumb low speed crash landed me in the ER. When they say rest they are not kidding. Literally sit in a dark room and sleep. No tv, email, computer, phone, anything. Your brain needs rest. And likely not just a few days. It can take weeks or even longer. I was a good 4-5 weeks to start to feel even close to 100% and even now I have some little niggling things that follow me. Don’t go back to work too soon if you can avoid it. This is something you don’t mess around with. It’s your brain, you only get one.

3

Woof. Concussions are indeed scary! Continue to feel better, and resist the urge to rush your recovery/comeback:)

4

http://stevetilford.com/2016/10/29/grounghog-day/
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5

Travis - Man, what a bad hit!!! All I can say is take it as easy as possible and hope you get back to normal soon.

Good Luck,

Eric

6

So sorry about your problems, Travis. I hope all goes well for you.

Concussions are indeed serious. My nephew’s 17 year-old son suffered two while playing hockey these past couple years. The second one was bad–he was out for 15 minutes. His hockey days were over, but was worse were the lingering memory and personality changes. He grew depressed, and this past March he took his own life in the basement of the family home. Absolutely terrible tragedy. I subsequently learned that concussions are especially bad for young people. I’m glad to see the sports world taking concussions very seriously.

In April, at a local bike race, a 24 year-old cyclist crashed, hit his head, and was in a coma for 2-1/2 weeks. (He was wearing a helmet, and probably wouldn’t have survived if he hadn’t been.) I feared that he’d be permanently disabled but, thank God, he made a miraculous recovery. He’s still not 100%, but he’s not far from it.

Wear your helmets, folks. Head injuries can be devastating–to you, and your family.

7

I’ve hit my head a lot. Even broken a helmet on the hood of a car and broke my collar bone. But I’ve only gotten one concussion. I was tucking in my daughter at the inlaws house. They had a huge light fixture hanging over her bed and I nailed it when I stood up. Stars, taste of blood. Nauseous all the next day and stayed in bed. It was awful.

8

Maybe I am reading too much in to your post but if this were me I would want some imaging of the inside of my head to determine if there was any blood in places that it shouldn’t be.

Your symptoms seem (to me) very bad for a simple concussion. Maybe that is all it is and maybe they wouldn’t do anything if there was a small epidural or subdural blood collection but I would want to know and have it as baseline in case things get worse. It is good that you have seen your regular doc and I have to assume that he/she is on top of this but I wouldn’t be surprised if the neurologist wants to get a CT/MRI.

9

I’m 26 and I have had at least three concussions that warrant recollection.

My worst one was when I was going into 9th grade. I was playing baseball and I was starting pitcher that game. I got rocked the third or fourth inning and was furious. I was lead off the next inning and hit a ground ball to the third baseman. The throw to first was a little wide which brought the first baseman into the baseline. I lowered my shoulder to try and take him out (instead of avoiding) and he got the last laugh. His should hit me under the jaw and snapped my head back. I was out for 45 minutes and had a seizure. I was airlifted to the hospital.

Another came almost two years ago when I was cycling. I was in the bike lane and a car decided to cut me off and I got thrown off the bike. The fall cracked my helmet into two pieces. I declined medical treatment, but looking back, I had a pretty severe concussion. My roommate picked me up and told me the next morning that I was rambling and wasn’t making any sense when I was talking to him.

Another one came when I was around 21 and was skimboarding (if you know what that is). Take all the fun of surfing and add all the danger and pain of skateboarding and falling on hard packed sand when you slide over a slightly dry spot. Well, yeah. That happened. I drove all the way home (1.5 hour drive) w/ my gf. This was probably the worst idea I had… I remember looking at oncoming traffic and seeing two sets of head lights per single car… the lights would hover around each other.

Needless to say, I’ve skateboarded and played football all my life, so concussions were kind of a normal part of what I did. I’m seriously thinking that all the hits have affected my ability to think… I find it incredibly difficult to focus during school sometimes. Could just be exhaustion. lol.

Also, my history has really kept me from jumping into bike racing 100%. It’s by far my strongest discipline and I think I would love the pace of a criterium… But you know… the whole close-quarters thing.

Moral of the story? Come back with your shield—or on it.

Er… wait.

10

Thank you to all for the thoughts and for sharing your own stories. It definitely is scary stuff. Jim, I’m very sorry to hear about your nephew.

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After a relatively good day yesterday, I woke up with a massive headache this morning - probably as bad as it has been since the injury. Went to the ER and they did a CT scan. Good news - no bleeding on the brain. The best part of that is now I can take something other than Tylenol. Was given a script for some stuff to help with the nausea/dizziness.

I will still be following up with the Neurologist, whenever that happens.

12

Excellent. Now you know…

13

I was concussed in 2010 during a snowboarding accident. No helmet. I still get post concussion symptoms from time to time, especially if I am in front of the computer or tv or looking at my smartphone for a long time. You have to be really patient. Lunch time sleeps/naps helped me out tremendously.

I used to be wiped out completely from work and was on reduced hours gradually building back to full time over the course of around 9 months? I would sometimes get home and just want to curl back into bed. Be very careful with the amount of exercise you do. It took me close to 2 years before I did a triathlon again.

Something I got told has really stuck with me…“you need to be a patient with patience”. Take it easy, don’t overdo things and know your limits.

14

Sorry Man!! Give us an update when you see the Neurologist. My wife had a severe concussion 5 months ago and is still not 100%. I am curious if the the doc will give you a protocol for returning to exercise. Her docs were vague at best. She can ride an hour or so easy most days but some days none at all. She is a tough one and was riding 10-15 hours a week before the knock to the head.

15

The recovery can be tough. One of my brothers works in construction and suffered a bad concussion while at work back in February; still dealing with the after effects and not cleared yet to go back to work.

16

It has been 2 weeks and every day is a new adventure. Unfortunately, the adventures aren’t all that great. After an ER trip Wednesday morning, a CT scan confirmed there was no bleeding on the brain, but the headaches are still challenging - sometimes as bad as the day of the accident. At least without bleeding, I can take something other than Tylenol.

Main symptoms are headaches, dizziness, numbness in my face, tinnitus, and just an overall sensitivity to pretty much everything that touches the senses - bright lights, loud noises, etc. It’s amazing how annoying the world is. It’s hard to sleep with everything being noisy, and the headaches and my other pain issues make it hard to get any sleep. My coworkers thought I was having a stroke on Thursday, but this was a case of not operating well on a few hours of poor sleep. The office environment is better with earplugs and sunglasses, but I have only had one full day in the office in two weeks.

The good news is that management gave the go-ahead to work from home as long as necessary, and take breaks as needed. I’m really thankful for the good people in my life. I feel mentally sharp, but held back by the symptoms. I get anxious about it at times, and find myself getting easily overwhelmed. Would really like to get on the bike again soon, but still can’t do much in the way of strenuous exercise. That’s certainly frustrating. This is going to be a long journey back, and I have to be patient.

Thanks again for all the thoughts and kindness. Take care of yourselves!

17

definitely not till you are in tip top shape but you should watch a documentary called the crash reel

its a fantastic film about the impacts of TBI’s

I’d not go back to work to soon if its avoidable
.

18

Good to hear you’re on the mend, take it easy and monitor your progress (solicit input from friends/family how you progress)

Meaning, be aware of possible long term impacts such as depression.

You are on your journey back. Best of Luck!

It has been 2 weeks and every day is a new adventure. Unfortunately, the adventures aren’t all that great. After an ER trip Wednesday morning, a CT scan confirmed there was no bleeding on the brain, but the headaches are still challenging - sometimes as bad as the day of the accident. At least without bleeding, I can take something other than Tylenol.

Main symptoms are headaches, dizziness, numbness in my face, tinnitus, and just an overall sensitivity to pretty much everything that touches the senses - bright lights, loud noises, etc. It’s amazing how annoying the world is. It’s hard to sleep with everything being noisy, and the headaches and my other pain issues make it hard to get any sleep. My coworkers thought I was having a stroke on Thursday, but this was a case of not operating well on a few hours of poor sleep. The office environment is better with earplugs and sunglasses, but I have only had one full day in the office in two weeks.

The good news is that management gave the go-ahead to work from home as long as necessary, and take breaks as needed. I’m really thankful for the good people in my life. I feel mentally sharp, but held back by the symptoms. I get anxious about it at times, and find myself getting easily overwhelmed. Would really like to get on the bike again soon, but still can’t do much in the way of strenuous exercise. That’s certainly frustrating. This is going to be a long journey back, and I have to be patient.

Thanks again for all the thoughts and kindness. Take care of yourselves!

19

Sorry to hear that, I had a bad one years ago during a bike crash (I would probably be dead without my helmet). Be also aware and warn your family to look for mood swings. Depression is a recognised side effect of concussion, and of course we (victims) are the worst persons to identify it, when family and close persons (work) are the best. The other one is lack of attention, lack of concentration. But the good news is that it goes away eventually. Take care.

20

:slight_smile:
Look for posts about Dave Mirra.

It’s real, something important to watch and nothing to be ashamed about.

Sorry to hear that, I had a bad one years ago during a bike crash (I would probably be dead without my helmet). Be also aware and warn your family to look for mood swings. Depression is a recognised side effect of concussion, and of course we (victims) are the worst persons to identify it, when family and close persons (work) are the best. The other one is lack of attention, lack of concentration. But the good news is that it goes away eventually. Take care.