concussion?

Underground
1

A little advice sought here:

I was rolling in class earlier tonight and ate a pretty hard knee (accidental) to the face. I wasn't knocked out, but it stunned me... at the time, I thought "No big deal." I blinked a couple of times, shook my head and made a joke to my training partner ("who are you and what just happened?") then said "Hey we can keep going if you want." He just laughed and said "no way man, that sounded like two coconuts slamming together... you're done for the night."

Anyway, after I made it to the locker room I felt a little woozy, but nothing worse than I've felt before when eating a shot. Bloodied my nose a bit, but didn't seem much worse than that.

Stood around a talked a while before leaving, and got gradually woosier and a little dizzy. Nothing big, kinda like a light beer buzz.That and a little weak feeling and my stomach felt a little fluttery. Didn't puke or anything. I drove home real slow.

Anyway, it's been maybe an hour and a half or so, and I still feel a little bit woozy and weird. I expect I probably have a grade 1 concussion... so what I'm wondering from you guys is: Is there anything special I should or shouldn't do the rest of the evening? I would usually take some vitamin E, some ginseng, glucosamine, ZMA and a melatonin tab before bed (washed down with a glass of milk). Any reason not to do any of that? Should I like not go to sleep right away or anything? Anything I should take? Would some Ibuprofen be OK if I develop a headache?

Also, on a related note... about 4 weeks ago, I had a gnarly crash on my mountain bike, and slammed face first into a wooden skinny... same deal, lightly bloodied up nose, woosy the rest of the day and a hell of a headache the next day. Possibly another mild concussion. If so, is a one month separation like that likely to mean anything significant? That is, I've heard that repeated concussions have a cumulative effect... but both of these events were clearly low grade (if true concussions at all), so would anybody expect any negative consequences from all this?

Thanks guys.. sorry in advance if this sounds like gibberish... i still feel kinda drunk. :-(

2

sounds like you have had two concussions.

you probably should take it easy for a week or so. no rolling. after that you should be able to start training again, but no contact for a few weeks. i don't know if you do any kind of sparring, but none for a few weeks. if you start rolling too soon, you'll probably get nauseous. your inner ear and brain are so closely linked, that's why you get woozy and dizzy after a good smack.

the problem with concussions is that the effects on your brain are worse with each successive concussion, and worse yet if they are in close proximity.

as far as long term effects, you'll probably talk funny and have some memory problems for a week or so. if it goes for longer see your doctor. you could also have some problems with sleeping, memory, irritibility, and even depression for months. if this happens you definately need to see your doctor and maybe a neurologist.

most of the time, things get back to normal if you give enough time for healing. when you think you're ready to train, go run a couple miles. if you get nauseous or dizzy, you're not ready.

good luck,

david

3

Thanks. So far today I feel pretty good, FWIW. I don't even have the killer headache like I had after the MTB crash. I have a fairly faint headache and a generally weird feeling, something like when my sinuses are acting up. I'll definitely take it easy for a week or so.

One thing I found in a wikipedia article is this little blurb:


Excitatory neurotransmitters are released as the result of the traumatic injury and cause the brain to enter a state of hypermetabolism which can last for 7 to 10 days [1]. During this time, the brain needs extra nutrients and is especially sensitive to inadequate blood flow.

Any idea what "extra nutrients" in particular my brain might need? Eg, should I eat a little extra of anything specific or take any particular supplements?

4

Found this great article from the Journal of Athletic Training, which is loaded with info on managing concussions. Figured I'd post it here to help anybody else who might stumble across this thread while searching for info:

http://www.nata.org/statements/position/concussion.pdf