
My Year of Concussions - bookofjoe
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/11/11/my-year-of-concussions
======
cowpig
I had a minor fall while snowboarding last January. I just slipped on an ice
patch while slowing to a stop, and hit the back of my head. Was wearing a
helmet. This was my second concussion as an adult (to my knowledge).

My startup was struggling, but that sealed its fate. Couldn't really work for
the next couple months. We ran out of funding and pivoted to consulting
(thankfully that's going well).

11 months later and I still have significant symptoms. Can't do any real
exercise beyond very mild cardio, can't focus on code for anything challenging
for extended periods of time, I get a lot of headaches, I'm a bit less
patient, and have general focus and cognitive endurance problems.

When an MRI last month revealed mini hemmorages, it felt like a relief. At
least it showed me that my symptoms were caused by something tangible,
something a radiologist could point at. Motivated me to finally take a real
vacation now. I feel more empathetic towards people with mental health issues
now.

This was from a minor fall. Concussions are crazy.

~~~
ubajavu
I had a pretty severe fall while snowboarding the past season. I caught my
heel side edge on a jump and landed on my head. I tried to sleep it off. All I
did for a week straight was stay in bed and sleep. I haven’t noticed any
lingering effects but your story makes me wonder... I still sometimes get
flashbacks and I’m not sure I will be returning to the sport.

~~~
malingo
I learned a few years ago that one of the best things to do for a concussion
is to literally sleep it off. I was surprised to see recommendations saying do
not "use your brain to think hard, read, study or try to learn new material
[that] may be very difficult and may aggravate your condition."

[https://health.clevelandclinic.org/suspect-a-concussion-
how-...](https://health.clevelandclinic.org/suspect-a-concussion-how-to-help-
not-hurt-your-recovery/)

Edit: wording

------
graeme
I didn’t read everything, but this jumped out at me:

> What led to the first concussion? I’d decided to repay an opponent who had,
> during a battle for a loose puck, shoved me into the boards head first. I’d
> been having neck issues, and this had made them instantly worse.

Imhad a concussion last year. Turned out to have caused a bunch if neck issues
that led to post concussion symptoms for many months till I found physio
focussing on neck/eye treatment post concussion.

I also think my neck issues pre concussion made me predisposed to it, as the
neck braces to help protect the brain in a blow. In the years before the
concussion, tiny bumps would often leave me feeling discombobulated. Post
therapy, I find tiny bumps are fine.

If anyone has had long lasting concussion symptoms, I highly recommend
vestibular physio. Here’s what I wrote about it:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Concussion/comments/d8e4zz/symptoms...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Concussion/comments/d8e4zz/symptoms_went_away_entirely_following/)

~~~
nradov
Professional boxers put a lot of emphasis on training neck strength in order
to handle being punched in the head. It apparently helps, but if course the
concussion risk remains.

~~~
graeme
Yup, the brain is vulnerable. But, I would say anyone who had a concussion
should seek vestibular therapy. And so should someone in a high risk field or
sport, and who has neck tension.

Would not recommend professional boxing to anyone however.

------
algaeontoast
As someone who grew up in TX it still stuns me that in 2019, middle school and
high school tackle football are not seen as child-abuse.

Best of luck to anyone recovering, fortunately I've only had one mild
concussion from a bike accident where I struck a jaywalking pedestrian.

~~~
criddell
In youth soccer, heading the ball has been eliminated due to concerns about
brain injury.

It seems like the more we study the effect of many small impacts, the worse we
realize it is. Eventually I think touching the ball with your head should be
the same penalty as touching it with your hand.

I'm not sure how you fix football though. I'm just glad my kinds never wanted
to play it.

------
andrewstuart
One of the reasons concussion is taken less seriously than perhaps it should
be is that it is actually brain damage, but the word "concussion" makes people
feel it is less serious than if they heard "brain damage".

~~~
mark-r
Concussions are a sub category of injuries referred to collectively as
"Traumatic Brain Injury", or "TBI". That's a much scarier term for you.

I had mine this March, fell while roller skating onto a hard wood floor and
had a brain bleed. Surgery was required. The extent of the injury wasn't
immediately apparent, I'm told I walked into the ambulance. But after the
surgery I was in so much pain they put me into an induced coma for a week,
with Fentanyl.

The biggest surprise was how random and unpredictable the after effects were.
My sense of time was totally messed up; I thought for sure I had killed my
chance of getting out of the hospital, after I chased down the doctor and
asked him why I was still there when I was scheduled to leave on Tuesday. Then
he asked me what day I thought it was, and I realized sheepishly that it was
still Monday.

The next week, I was having a conversation with my wife and she was describing
the situation where you're trying to remember a word but are not able to. I
said "You mean aphasia?" So I was able to remember a word I had probably never
used in conversation, but couldn't tell what day of the week it was.

------
timClicks
I played open grade (no weight restrictions) rugby for a season as an
undergrad after playing since I was 6. That year left me with several
concussions and about 5 years of headaches. Haven't played contact sports
since.

~~~
phillc73
There's weight restricted rugby?

~~~
timClicks
In New Zealand there is at club level. Also all high school grades, except
inter-school matches IIRC, are weight limited.

~~~
phillc73
Thanks. That's a really interesting concept and probably good from a safety
aspect too.

I've played rugby from age 12 to 35, in Australia, South Africa and England.
I'd never heard of weight restricted teams.

Having said that, it's ten years since I retired, and I guess things move on.
If such positive safety measures are being implemented, that has to be a good
thing.

------
cko
Concussions apparently didn’t hurt his writing style. I loved it. Does New
Yorker help with the editing?

~~~
SolaceQuantum
I would be shocked if there isn't a head editor for every section of the New
Yorker plus a head editor for the magazine plus several staff editors under
each section.

------
codac_mac
Had multiple concussions in high school, suffered years of symptoms and
nothing really helped. Currently in college, where I discovered various forms
of CBD as a form of post-concussion treatment.

While here I've had a few more bad ones, but found that using CBD drastically
helps with symptoms, both in duration and severity. Sooner you get it in your
system after an injury, the better it seems to work. Been able to go from a
full concussion back to intense studying w/out symptoms in days, whereas
before it would be at least a few months.

Hope this helps someone !

~~~
mark-r
This is not one of those situations that calls for self help. The one thing
they tried to impress on me was that the sooner you get treatment, the better
it works. Based on my own outcome, I believe them.

------
magwa101
...and this is why I stopped play "adult" hockey.

------
codac_mac
mlk

