Concussions....brutal
Every year my husband, Serge, and I have the great privilege of travelling to the east coast to see our beloved family. Serge’s parents live in Montreal, and his brother, niece and nephew are in Ottawa. My dad and step-mom are in NYC, and my sister and her family are in Brooklyn. Every year in August my Dad’s side of the family congregate from all parts of the world in upstate New York on a pristine lake in the Adirondacks. This year was no different.
Saturday afternoon we went out for a tour around the lake, drifting and sunbathing and catching up on the past year. After lunch we embarked on the annual wakesurfing festivities. Everyone took turns riding, falling off, attempting to ride, falling off, and getting back up again. Last year I had had some wicked runs and I was determined to find the sweet spot again.
That didn’t happen… Instead, after several pretty epic wipe-outs I gave it “one last try”. (Side note: It is ALWAYS the last run when we get hurt. Better to pack it up early and ride another day than to enter the zone of tired and frustrated). On my last run, I went off the board to one side, the board went the other direction, caught the lip of the wave and shot back at me, nailing me over my left eye so hard I thought for sure it had split my skull from ear to ear. It wasn’t so painful as it was scary. I was positive I would lose consciousness and called for help gripping my forehead.
The next couple hours are a blur. To be honest the next week was a blur. My amazing family rushed me to the ER where the excellent doctor stitched me up. He concluded that I likely did NOT have a fractured skull, ruptured ear drum or detached retina. Instead my blurry vision, temporary loss of hearing and ripping headache was the result of a concussion.
Me and my very relieved Papa… seven stitches later
Any imagining? No. Any education on concussion? No. Any follow up? No. Any resources? No. Thank goodness for me, I am a physiotherapist. As such, I am accustomed to most doctors sending concussion patients to us and therefore I know what to do. So I will tell you what I have learned, and now experienced first hand.
Get a baseline assessment with a physiotherapist and/or concussion specialist. A concussion is the “unseen” injury. Objective outcomes are important to have to track and measure recovery. They can also determine your best course of treatment and provide advice management
Rest as much as you need, and you will need to rest a LOT.
Ask your doctor about medications
Don’t over exert yourself. For me, all I could handle was to the bathroom and back for 3 days.
Mental effort and physical effort come from the same energy resource. Managing the allotment of energy efforts with out flaring symptoms can take some time to learn and navigate.
No screen time.
Decrease the blue light on all necessary screens.
Wear sunglasses and avoid bright light
Close your eyes and meditate when you feel over stimulated. FYI, that mounting pressure and headache is over stimulation
Create space to recover. Stress complicates things. The rest of my vacation was shot. In fact I had to cancel the second half to stay put and recover. But the first days are the most important. I was incredibly fortunate to have the built in time off work, and family to support me. I was lucky.
Be very careful about a SLOW, GRADED return to activity. Its important to add as much as possible without going into the symptom zone. Gradually, with time, the capacity for physical and mental activity increases.
Do your physiotherapy and exercises :)
I’m listening to my own advice and I’m on the mend! Looking forward to being back to treating patients with concussions in no time with a LOT more insight.