<p>Yes I know this isn’t a medical forum, but I wanted to see if anyone here had any experience with concussions and their aftermath, and might be willing to share their experience.</p>
<p>H got a concussion 2½ weeks ago in a rather traumatic bike accident (among other serious injuries). He did have a brain scan in the ER, and the doc said it was clear, but is adamant that he had a concussion because he has no memory of the accident (not even where he was along the bike trail when it happened) and his helmet was cracked in four places, had mud in it and was scratched on the outside. So we know he hit his head hard.</p>
<p>We were out at a concert tonight and three different times that he stood up, he got very dizzy. The last time, a few seconds after he stood up, he fell backwards, tipping over the spectator chair he had been sitting in, and fell on his back. He just had 25 staples taken out of his collar bone area today, where he’d had surgery two weeks ago, and is still recovering from six badly broken ribs, so I kind of freaked out when he fell, hoping he did not re-injure something. But he got up, then told me it was like the third time tonight he got dizzy upon standing. My first thought was some sort of delayed side effect from the concussion, but he pooh-poohed the idea. This is also a guy that I had to convince to go to the immediate care center the night after the accident, so I knew there was no way he’d agree to any kind of follow up care tonight. So we came home tonight, and he’s seemed fine. But I’m wondering if this dizziness could be related to the concussion. I also worry because (believe it or not), he was back on his bike again yesterday (only a few blocks). If dizzy spells are signs the concussion has not resolved yet, then he absolutely should not be back on a bike (although I doubt he’ll listen to me). Since I haven’t been going with him to his appts., I don’t know what they’ve been telling him (yea, he drove to work five days after the accident, and 48 hours after general anesthesia, too) as far as activity level goes. The only thing he was told today is he can now shower and get the incision wet. </p>
<p>Actually, this is the first time I’ve been around anyone for lengthy periods of time that had a concussion, so I don’t know what to look out for or expect.</p>
<p>Dizziness absolutely can be a post-concussion symptom. The Wikipedia article says that about half of concussion victims have post-concussion dizziness. When I read about hockey players recovering from concussions, dizziness is often mentioned. Irritability is also a common aftereffect.</p>
<p>Some men are just idiots about taking care of themselves. On a recent club ride of my club, a rider got ahead of the group on a long downhill. The ride leader found him at the bottom of the hill, bleeding from the head and having no memory of a crash. He insisted on riding home! I wasn’t on that ride, but on another ride, a rider crashed right in front of me and hit his head. He claimed he was just fine, but then a bit later in the ride he complained of a headache. None of the other riders in the group could get him to agree to call someone (or a taxi) to pick him up.</p>
<p>Teri, no experience with concussions here, but I think you have to confiscate his bike! Dizzy spells and biking do not mesh. Hugs. H’s can be so stubborn! Mine wanted to go to work the morning after his appendicitis surgery. I took a day off work making sure he would not.</p>
<p>Dehydration (out in a crowd in the heat) can also cause dizziness when standing up from a seated position – low blood pressure. But, yes, lingering dizziness can be a concussion symptom and a couple of weeks would not be unusual for symptoms to have not completely cleared up (at least for football players and auto racers). I’m not a doctor, but as I understand it, these symptoms would almost certainly clear up with time. I would take away his bike for a few more weeks. One concussion is not that big a deal, but you really, really don’t want to have another blow to the head in the short term. So a little short term extra-discretion would probably make sense. In both football and auto racing, there are now mandatory vacations until all of those types of symptoms have cleared up. Repeated concussions are a problem.</p>
<p>There’s also a “benign positional vertigo” which is an inner ear issue causing dizziness when changing the position of the head – for example, going from sitting on a bed to lying down (or vice versa) quickly). That one is pretty easy to test for because you can pretty much trigger it at will with certain movements.</p>
<p>I thought about vertigo, and I suppose it could still be that (and now that I think of it, he has spent the last 2½ weeks sleeping on his back due to his injuries, which he is not used to and maybe something like that could aggravate vertigo), but given the recent concussion, it was the first thing that came to mind. </p>
<p>Any ideas on how I could ‘confiscate’ the bike? What’s a part I could easily remove that would make it un-rideable? To make matters worse, when he rode yesterday (and I will emphasize again… it was about four blocks), he wore the same helmet he wore when he crashed. When I chastised him for that, his reply was, “I haven’t had time to go out and get a new one.” </p>
<p>While I agree with the outside in the heat (it was in the low 80s and we were in shade (Peter Frampton!), this is a guy who has been in much worse conditions (and less hydrated), heat-wise and has never gotten dizzy. In fact, I can honestly say this is the first time I’ve ever known him to say he was dizzy in the 29 years I’ve known him.</p>
<p>All signs sure point to post-concussion issues. Dizziness, headaches, and sensistivity to light are the classic lingering symptoms.</p>
<p>I would just tell him flat out to do a little reading on multiple concussions. The doctors have pretty conclusively figured out that a second concussion in a short time frame is bad news. That’s when you have to start worrying about permanent, long-term issues. The brain takes a while to heal and subsequent blows to the head during that healing process are not good.</p>
<p>Surely, he can put the bike away for one stinkin’ month to ensure that he doesn’t have symptoms like a punch drunk old fighter for the rest of his life. It’s not an unreasonable precaution, especially since he’s falling down just getting up out of a chair! Guys can be stubborn, but he’s not stupid.</p>
<p>I would thread the biggest, meanest dog chain I could find through both wheels and lock it with a huuuggge padlock! If the seat is easily removable, i’d take it out. There aren’t many people who’d ride a bike lacking a seat. I know that such actions would anger my H at first, but he would get the message. If your H has not been prone to dizzy spells prior to his accident, chances are good that his dizziness is related to his concussion. Perhaps it warrants another visit to his doctor.</p>
<p>That’s exactly what I was worried about. In fact, I started a thread on this a while back with a link to an article. Will have to print it out and hand it to him. He doesn’t go back to the orthopedic doctor for another month, although he will be scheduling PT now that his staples are out. I guess I should be grateful that, of our four family members, this is the first concussion recovery I’ve had to observe.</p>
<p>My 87 year old neighbor fell and hit her head a couple of years ago. She was diagnosed with Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) by the neurologist–where things started spinning like crazy. The hit on the head causes the little balance crystals in your inner ear to become dislodged, which really affects your balance and causes the vertigo. She went to a special physical therapist who manipulated her head to try to get the crystals in her ear to go back to their original position.</p>
<p>He should definitely NOT be back on his bike yet! A stationary bike would be ok.</p>
<p>My son spent 18 hours in the emergency room after being hit in the face and knocked out for just a few minutes. Although the scans came back negative, they wanted to admit him but no beds were available and I promised to not leave him for 24 hours. His discharge instructions included no driving for 24 hours after any dizzy spells and we were to make a follow-up appointment at the concussion clinic. The clinic took this very seriously even though he had no symptoms after the first day. They gave him a computerized test and compared his results to a test that he had taken 4 years earlier as a varsity athlete. Even though this test showed no lingering effects of the concussion, he was still advised to do only light activity for two days, then more moderate, and then, only if no dizziness, resume his workout schedule. He plays a club sport in college (quid ditch-- iPad doesn’t recognize), and was told that he SHOULD be ok since that is 3 or 4 months away.
I think with all of the sports having major discussions on long term effects of repeat concussions, the doctors here (Pittsburgh is doing a lot of research), take this pretty seriously.</p>
<p>A concussion is not a structural injury. Therefore it will show up as NOTHING on any type of imaging the doctors choose to pursue. If anything shows up on an MRI or Cat Scan after a concussion, you’ll know already because there will be quite a few other signs and symptoms evident.</p>
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<p>Nope. He is still showing signs and symptoms of a concussion. No physical activity.</p>
<p>Teriwtt, at this time I would be making an appointment with a neurologist. This one is out of the scope for a primary physician…</p>
<p>Teriwtt – I’m so sorry – these are very scary injuries. My son got a concussion playing football last fall and I was so worried.</p>
<p>You asked “how do I confiscate his bike?” Here’s my suggestion (and my husband is an avid bike rider). Call his doctor, (and also follow up with a neurologist) but tell your doctor about your concerns and ask the doctor tell your husband “no bike riding for x months”. I bet he will be more likely to listen to his doctor (which is crazy, I know – who could care more about your husband than you?) There’s something about hearing it from someone else that just might work.</p>
<p>After my son got hurt, I called a pediatric neurologist and asked her if she would tell my son “no more football” (in my mind, the chances of another concussion are too great). She laughed and told me if she had a dollar for every parent who asked that, she could retire. But she said she had no problem telling him that.</p>
<p>teriwtt, the big chain sounds like a good idea. I would probably call his doctor and tell him what’s going on. I’m guessing that “bad decision making” is another post-concussion symptom.</p>
<p>That’s a different issue and could be easily tested for following this sequence of rapidly changing head motions. Trust me, with BPPV, the room will be violently spinning during one or more of these motions. There a left hand and right hand version.</p>
<p>Just to put Teriwitt’s mind at ease, this is, in all likelihood, not an “emergency” situation. As I understand it, this is a very common part of post-concussion recovery and there isn’t much the docs can do but allow time to heal. The high risk with a concussion is in the first day or two when there is the possibility of swelling in the brain. That’s why they are now so cautious about observation for the first 24 - 48 hours.</p>
<p>Having said that, a referral to a neurologist wouldn’t be unreasonable. At least you would have the appointment.</p>
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<p>Speaking as a husband, I would strongly recommend that wives not start calling their husband’s doctors and injecting themselves into health care at that level. You are not his mommy. He’s not a little boy. And, he will resent the hell out of it.</p>
<p>A friend of mine got two concussions within a short time frame about a year ago, and still has symptoms that some days make it difficult for her to work. Although now she does have more good days than bad. She has had to curtail her athletic hobbies as a result. If your husband loves riding his bike, maybe the fact that a second concussion could prohibit his riding for an even longer time might persuade him. Good Luck! :)</p>
<p>I remember right after my concussion I was dizzy most of the time. My concussion(s) was diagnosed two weeks after the sports accident. My doctor actually thought I had two concussions because before I was diagnosed I went basketball tryouts, and was hit on the head again. After the first initial visit with my primary doctor, I was pulled from all sports and gym class for majority of the school year. I remember at times the dizziness was really bad especially at school. My science teacher is actually the one who sent me to the doctor for a potential concussion because I told him I couldn’t stand very well from the dizziness. He had about seven concussions, and once he heard about the sports accident he had me escorted down the health office where I sat for the rest of the day waiting for my parents. For about a three years on my medical chart, and it may still be, they had/have me diagnosed with post concussion headaches. I now see a neurologist who I actually like, and works with me and he says its migraines. He believes it was triggered by the concussion(s). </p>
<p>From what I read about a year ago is that people who suffer concussions are now getting treatment where they stay home for about roughly five days and they do nothing. I know the hospital where I got treatment for severe headaches has a trail doing exactly that, but the participants come from the e.r. and it is the day/night of the accident. I wish my doctor would’ve done this kind of treatment instead of sending me right back to school, and telling my parents I was lying about the headaches. After three visits to the e.r., the e.r doctor finally asked the neurologist to release me from his care. He wouldn’t until they said I would be admitted then and the pain clinic would come down and see me that way. As you can tell, I’m somewhat bitter about the past experience with doctors. One of the reasons I decided not to go OOS besides financial aid is that I didn’t want to have to find a new neurologist. Not sure if this helps, but I would follow the advice of others and wait until the symptoms clear up to ride a bike because getting a second concussion in a short amount of time after the first can result in permanent affects. Another possibility to why I have migraines now. I hope he feels better soon, and the symptoms don’t last to long.</p>
<p>D1 suffered a borderline grade 1-2 concussion in April from falling off a horse while jumping. She was off horses and out of gym for 2+ weeks until she went back to the doctor for medical clearance. She was home from school for a week, as thinking gave her a horrible headache said for several weeks her head hurt with loud sounds (you said you were at a concert). She even had to defer taking her AP exams in May to the late testing dates, as she was not medically able to take them. </p>
<p>Her doctor also stressed to her the 2nd-hit syndrome. Until your brain has healed from a concussion, a 2nd one can be instantly fatal. He made me show her several articles of HS football players that claimed their symptoms had cleared up so they could play and were knocked out again and died. </p>
<p>Until your husband’s headaches are gone he needs to hold off on any sports and keep quiet to let the brain heal. A concussion is a bruise, which take time to heal. A friend of mine also suffered a concussion in the past year and she noted she was having depression issues, which are common in adult post-concussion. (she’s a physician, so she had done extensive research).</p>
<p>Completely agree with this. However, if there is another event requiring some sort of medical care (like three days in the hospital), who do you think ends up dealing with it also?</p>
<p>On a side note, not quite a week after this happened, I did have a previously scheduled appointment with our doctor for my yearly med refill. I was still so mad about the night of the accident and the negligent care H received at the immediate care center, that I felt obligated to let our PCP know how bad it was. So I went through the whole story with him - his email alerting him to the accident had not been flagged so he knew nothing yet. So our doctor knows everything from my perspective, as opposed to just a written report. It wouldn’t be out of context for them to call him up and suggest he come in for a follow up visit for the concussion. Our PCP is also pretty generous with recommending a consult with a specialist, which I think he’d do if H told him about the dizzy spells.</p>
<p>nj2011mom - the thing is, he hasn’t really been having any headaches, but that could be due to the ibuprofen he’s taking for his broken ribs. He only uses the narcotics at night when he sleeps.</p>
<p>Also, the concert we were at last night was not particularly loud. It was at an outdoor pavilion (Ravinia, for people who know the Chicago area concert venues) and we had lawn seats. We could easily hold a conversation while the music was playing.</p>