6 ms·

About 5 years ago I suffered a concussion from a motorcycle accident (I had a helmet, only thing that saved me). All my friends said it took me almost 2 years

by mitchty 13y ago

About 5 years ago I suffered a concussion from a motorcycle accident (I had a helmet, only thing that saved me). All my friends said it took me almost 2 years before I was back to "my old self". It was weird experiencing it firsthand as well. My last memories of the accident was planting my left hand on the pavement trying to save the fall. Thankfully my nice Held gloves have tacks on the palm so it wasn't a big deal but the next memory I had was waking up with a cat on my chest staring right at me in my buddies girlfriends house. I think the cat wanted to eat me, those eyes /shudder. Anyway, PSA is always wear a helmet, that and hip armor, wear lots of that, I walked like an old man for a month. But for a few years after that accident I basically felt a fog in my brain. I really don't like the idea of sports like football after that where people pile on concussions. I just don't see how it could be a thing that couldn't be detrimental.

rcavezza 13y ago
Similar story. It took me about two years to fully "feel healthy" after a (or possibly many) rugby concussions my senior year of college. The day after my concussion, I felt drunk, wasted actually. When I woke up and went to the bathroom, I had to lean my hand on the wall just to stay upright. I was wobbling around campus for about two weeks after the incident. Always off balance, pretty much worrying the entire time that my CT scan and MRI's missed a brain bleed. I shouldn't have felt this weird, but they continued to say everything was normal. That was the worst part: The feeling that something was terribly wrong, but every single doctor told me that I was fine. Five years later, I feel relatively okay. I barely ever notice any lasting affects of the concussion. Every so often, I have a bad delay in recalling a word I am thinking of. One beer makes me feel really weird, although the feeling seems to go away after having two or three. And ejaculating, for some odd reason, gives me a headache.
- ASpring 13y ago
  I've experienced similar feelings with the inability to recall words quickly. I wonder whether I should attribute it to graduating University and thus not using more expansive vocabulary normally or to the concussions I sustained my final year there. How did your concussion affect the way you live? Do you still play sports?
  - rcavezza 13y ago
    RE: word recall - it might not be related. It's just something I've noticed of myself. I probably attribute it to the concussions since I never really explored other alternatives. I didn't play sports for about two years. It was very frustrating when I thought I was close, but still had some lingering effects. Around the time I stopped having bad headaches, I would try to play basketball once every two weeks hoping everything was okay, but would come home with terrible headaches. I kept trying, hoping something would change, and after a while ,the headaches subsided in intensity. At that point, I started increasing the frequency of playing, and things, over time, became normal again. Now I play sports normally. There's a few odd things that I really can't stand now. Fans blowing in my face (sometimes treadmills at my gym have automatic fans that turn on). I can't headbang to heavy metal music because it hurts me later on. I think it's the specific movement when I do. The worst part about the concussion is that it took away my way of life. Before it, I was playing sports or exercising at least five days a week. It was a part of my identity. I had a really tough year trying to move my passions from sports to startups and business. It worked out; however, and now I am able to enjoy all of them.
  - patrickpkt 13y ago
    This seems like the best spot in the tree to hijack, belatedly. I got a concussion about six months ago playing hockey and am still recovering, not even working full time. I did a battery of neuropsychological testing about four month post-concussion and verbal fluency, specifically coming up with words starting with a given letter, was one thing they tested. They guessed at my baseline performance, then were able to pick word usage, among a few others, out as areas I'm now deficient in. My recollection is they said it was a common pattern to see. I do have to say it's good to read of people who've come through this and feel normal again, even if it takes a long time.
anigbrowl 13y ago
I really don't like the idea of sports like football after that where people pile on concussions. I just don't see how it could be a thing that couldn't be detrimental. There's a high school that I pass on the way to the dog park, and on Mondays the team is always outside for football practice. Watching them damage themselves right in front of the school breaks my heart. I am convinced that American Football is going go suffer the same drop in popularity as boxing within the next decade.
- cglace 13y ago
  For a more barbaric sport like MMA?
  - tomsthumb 13y ago
    According to the (nat geo?) video below mma and boxing hits should be about the same with all else being equal. Combing this with mma's grappling and one almost wonders if, despite the increased blood, it might be less concussion inducing. No doubt their bodies are being hammered and worn down though. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRmOOWPTRBs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRmOOWPTRBs
    - sanoli 13y ago
      Among the MMA community it used to be common knowledge that MMA was safer, concussion-wise. There were no good studies to back that up, however. Now they're starting to come by, and it seems they might be just about the same. Here's one: http://www.cagepotato.com/myth-busting-is-mma-really-safer-than-boxing/ http://www.cagepotato.com/myth-busting-is-mma-really-safer-t...
  - anigbrowl 13y ago
    I agree MMA is barbaric but IMHO it doesn't have anything like the status that boxing used to have. When I was growing up in the 1970s, world heavyweight title fights were staged and broadcast internationally and attracted attention comparable to Olympic contests.
douglasisshiny 13y ago
When I was nine (now 27), I was hit by a car and suffered a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) to the left temporal lobe. I was in a coma for five days; had anterograde amnesia for weeks, maybe a few months. My parents later told me that my personality changed dramatically. I don't think many nine-year-old kids are introspective enough to know what their personality is like, and never was it mentioned that my personality reverted back to normal. I have no idea what I was like or what I would become. It's interesting to think about. It took a long time for me to look back and think "what the hell?"

by mitchty 13y ago

rcavezza 13y ago

Similar story. It took me about two years to fully "feel healthy" after a (or possibly many) rugby concussions my senior year of college. The day after my concussion, I felt drunk, wasted actually. When I woke up and went to the bathroom, I had to lean my hand on the wall just to stay upright. I was wobbling around campus for about two weeks after the incident. Always off balance, pretty much worrying the entire time that my CT scan and MRI's missed a brain bleed. I shouldn't have felt this weird, but they continued to say everything was normal. That was the worst part: The feeling that something was terribly wrong, but every single doctor told me that I was fine. Five years later, I feel relatively okay. I barely ever notice any lasting affects of the concussion. Every so often, I have a bad delay in recalling a word I am thinking of. One beer makes me feel really weird, although the feeling seems to go away after having two or three. And ejaculating, for some odd reason, gives me a headache.

ASpring 13y ago
I've experienced similar feelings with the inability to recall words quickly. I wonder whether I should attribute it to graduating University and thus not using more expansive vocabulary normally or to the concussions I sustained my final year there. How did your concussion affect the way you live? Do you still play sports?
- rcavezza 13y ago
  RE: word recall - it might not be related. It's just something I've noticed of myself. I probably attribute it to the concussions since I never really explored other alternatives. I didn't play sports for about two years. It was very frustrating when I thought I was close, but still had some lingering effects. Around the time I stopped having bad headaches, I would try to play basketball once every two weeks hoping everything was okay, but would come home with terrible headaches. I kept trying, hoping something would change, and after a while ,the headaches subsided in intensity. At that point, I started increasing the frequency of playing, and things, over time, became normal again. Now I play sports normally. There's a few odd things that I really can't stand now. Fans blowing in my face (sometimes treadmills at my gym have automatic fans that turn on). I can't headbang to heavy metal music because it hurts me later on. I think it's the specific movement when I do. The worst part about the concussion is that it took away my way of life. Before it, I was playing sports or exercising at least five days a week. It was a part of my identity. I had a really tough year trying to move my passions from sports to startups and business. It worked out; however, and now I am able to enjoy all of them.
- patrickpkt 13y ago
  This seems like the best spot in the tree to hijack, belatedly. I got a concussion about six months ago playing hockey and am still recovering, not even working full time. I did a battery of neuropsychological testing about four month post-concussion and verbal fluency, specifically coming up with words starting with a given letter, was one thing they tested. They guessed at my baseline performance, then were able to pick word usage, among a few others, out as areas I'm now deficient in. My recollection is they said it was a common pattern to see. I do have to say it's good to read of people who've come through this and feel normal again, even if it takes a long time.

anigbrowl 13y ago

I really don't like the idea of sports like football after that where people pile on concussions. I just don't see how it could be a thing that couldn't be detrimental. There's a high school that I pass on the way to the dog park, and on Mondays the team is always outside for football practice. Watching them damage themselves right in front of the school breaks my heart. I am convinced that American Football is going go suffer the same drop in popularity as boxing within the next decade.

cglace 13y ago
For a more barbaric sport like MMA?
- tomsthumb 13y ago
  According to the (nat geo?) video below mma and boxing hits should be about the same with all else being equal. Combing this with mma's grappling and one almost wonders if, despite the increased blood, it might be less concussion inducing. No doubt their bodies are being hammered and worn down though. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRmOOWPTRBs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRmOOWPTRBs
  - sanoli 13y ago
    Among the MMA community it used to be common knowledge that MMA was safer, concussion-wise. There were no good studies to back that up, however. Now they're starting to come by, and it seems they might be just about the same. Here's one: http://www.cagepotato.com/myth-busting-is-mma-really-safer-than-boxing/ http://www.cagepotato.com/myth-busting-is-mma-really-safer-t...
- anigbrowl 13y ago
  I agree MMA is barbaric but IMHO it doesn't have anything like the status that boxing used to have. When I was growing up in the 1970s, world heavyweight title fights were staged and broadcast internationally and attracted attention comparable to Olympic contests.

douglasisshiny 13y ago

When I was nine (now 27), I was hit by a car and suffered a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) to the left temporal lobe. I was in a coma for five days; had anterograde amnesia for weeks, maybe a few months. My parents later told me that my personality changed dramatically. I don't think many nine-year-old kids are introspective enough to know what their personality is like, and never was it mentioned that my personality reverted back to normal. I have no idea what I was like or what I would become. It's interesting to think about. It took a long time for me to look back and think "what the hell?"