Head concussion: falling

[shootingstar]

Do take care if you ever fall, hitting your head. I just found out from a friend (in her late 40's) who hit her head on icy sidewalk when she was walking to work last winter.

She berates herself for not having seen the doctor immediately after the fall because it's taken her a long time to "heal'. She still gets dizzy if she shakes her head, vigorous exercise, etc. She sustained a hairline fracture and concussion. It was 6 months before she could bring herself to got back onto a bike without fear of dizzy episode.

She and her hubby have done some group rides with us in the past. She's slowly getting over her fear of falling by bringing her bike onto the commuter train to work and cycling back to home after work. So glad, there are these options.

[bmccasland]

I have vertigo post-concussion from a head hit in a volley ball game back in my university days. I was put on Anti-vert (Rx) for a short time about a year afterwards. There are ways to recover from this, but part of it is for your friend's head to relearn how to get around, and to ignore the "tilt" messages. I audited a jazz dance class post injury which helped me a lot. But each person is different. Some kind of PT would help. Still, when I'm tired, I can still feel the spot where I was hit, some 25 years later.

I'm assuming she's wearing a helmet when she rides, right???

[crazycanuck]

Oh boy this brings me back to my whoops crash 2yrs ago...Good thing i was wearing a helmet *phew*! They weren't worried about my head at the time, the sterum/clavicle dislocation was. Didn't even know about what had happened to my knee until about a week later..owie...

What I didn't understand after were the symptoms of BPV & lived with the wierd dizzy feelings for a month before i decided to visit me dr.

[tulip]

It's been over six years since my fall on my head that resulted in a Life Flight helicopter ride. It took me months to be able to form sentences verbally (writing was fine). I still cannot multitask like I used to, but that's okay because I now focus on one thing at a time, and I think I do that one thing--whatever it may be--better than before.

I was wearing a helmet. If I had not been, I don't think I'd be in very good shape.

[Tuckervill]

I can name three different people who died from a slip-fall on just a little patch of ice in their driveway/on the sidewalk that they didn't notice. All three lingered for months with the head injury.

We don't get much ice here, but when we do, it is very treacherous. I think its rarity contributes to cases like these.

Karen

[shootingstar]

I had no idea what had happened to you each, bmcc, crazyc, tulip and sad, Tuckerville for those 3 folks.

And now realize how powerful an impact a volleyball can be.

Yes, she wears a bike helmet. She always did. Her hubby is an experienced cyclist and local active cycling advocate here.

[deeaimond]

it's so scary...

I found a huge bump at the back of my head while washing my hair yesterday. And it hurts! but I don't remember hitting my head that hard on anything... on the back of my head too... maybe i had some concussion...

I was riding my old monster bike to school but taking the 10km route without my helmet. But I think its time to get the helmet back on the head again...

[Bike Chick]

I had a terrible bike crash while doing a scary fast switchback descent. My bike left the road and hit a huge rock. The bike stopped and I didn't. I went right over the handlebars and hit my head on another rock. It knocked me unconscious and my helmet was cracked in 3 places. The doc at the er said my head would have cracked like a watermelon without the helmet--it saved my life. I suffered a concussion and vertigo for months afterward.

Shooting Star, I know how your friend feels. It's scary laying down in bed when you have vertigo and I was off the bike for several weeks. I went to an ENT who performed a procedure by turning my head several directions to make my brain and inner ear readjust itself. Sounds crazy but it worked. You might want to suggest it to your friend.

[Grog]

A co-worker phone in on a meeting today. He was not feeling too well: he said his blood pressure was low, he became dizzy, fell, and hit his head. He was insisting on staying "at" the meeting although he was still feeling funny and, I quote, "unable to drive."

We all got pretty upset and told him to hang up and go to the hospital ASAP.

I am still to hear back. :S

[snapdragen]

Woman walking on one of our local MUT got caught in a dog leash (person on a bike with two dogs on leashes). The leash caught her from behind, at the knees, causing her to fall and hit her head.

She died.

[Bike Goddess]

Yes, and they haven't found the cyclist responsible. They are now talking about an ordinance (?) that would prohibit cyclists from riding with dogs on leash.

Very sad.

[smilingcat]

Like tulip, my crash was bad.

Helmet saved my life the second, third... time around.

And yes, if you are feeling odd, or having difficulty after a bump on a head, please have it checked out.

And like tulip, I have some difficulties. My short term memory isn't as good and I have one heck of a time remembering people's name. I could write it down, take a photo and 10 seconds later, I can't remember their name, hair color...

[OakLeaf]

Wow Snap/BikeGoddess, that's awful.

One of the participants in my aerobics class hit her head on the trunk of her car a couple of weeks ago. I forget exactly how it happened, I think she just turned and walked into it. She didn't lose consciousness, but had/has a lot of other concussion symptoms, dizziness, nausea, confusion. Of course a big lump and headaches.

It's weird how the immediate symptoms don't necessarily correlate with the longer-term ones. From what I'm told, I was unconscious for a good 20-25 minutes, and my memories of the next 2-3 hours "flash" in and out, but I didn't have any symptoms afterward other than localized tenderness.

And my LBS still uses the remains of my helmet to show customers what they're for... 22 years later.

[Grog]

Turns out the co-worker who hit his head yesterday actually had a mild stroke.

I'm really glad I twisted his arm into seeing a doctor, but this is a bit scary. Don't know how that's going to turn out...