So I slipped on an icy patch of sidewalk and landed on my butt, mostly the left cheek. I was wearing my backpack and fell backwards, so I came nowhere close to hitting my head. After lolling about in pain and swearing for a while, I went on my way. Afterward, I felt a bit out of sorts. Nauseous, but not really. Just generally… out of sorts, like I said.
It made me wonder if it’s possible to get brain trauma from just my butt hitting the pavement and jarring my brain in my head from the sudden stop. I don’t think I have brain bleeding or a concussion or anything in actuality (feeling out of sorts is probably just me recovering from the awesome pain of landing on my ass), but still, is it possible?
IANAD but I think it’s possible. Your brain is a jelly-like blob inside your skull. If your head is moved around suddenly enough, I think your brain can be damaged by bouncing off your skull.
Yes, concussions from whiplash are not unheard of. I’m not sure if it’s likely with a slip and fall, but in a car accident with high levels of force, it would be more likely.
I received a spectacular concussion via a frightening episode of hypertension urgency. I was hospitalized for five days on the cardiac ward and it took five long weeks for the concussion to resolve. I was on the strongest anti vomit drug available, plus morphine for the unending headache. I lay, very still, on my couch for those weeks with an ice pack on my brain stem. It was brutal. I kept asking the specialist why I was it getting better faster. I was told your brain heals in it’s own time, cannot be rushed. (He also reminded me I had been very lucky to escape life altering consequences!)
There are many ways to get a concussion. Think about football players, a really hard hit is enough, on the bean or just blindsided in general. Don’t take these symptoms lightly, treat yourself very gently until you feel better. However long that takes. You have my sympathy it really is a very shitty feeling!
100% yes a concussion can occur without direct head contact. In fact the first lecture I went to on the subject the speaker showed a video of a collegiate wrestler who was just slammed hard on his tush, got up fell down, got up, fell down, and then stayed down. The lecturer’s follow up was that he then missed over a year of school recovering.
The main mechanism of injury is what gets called “axonal shearing.” Axons are the long long bits that neurons use to send information to other neurons with. It’s mostly those axons getting stretched, and causing axonal injury somewhat diffusely, that causes the concussion, and that occurs more as a result of rotational forces than impact per se.
It is best to think of concussion as the result not a brain impact but as the result of a brain slosh, i.e. rapid movement of the brain.
If a brain slosh results in changes of any meaningful duration in behavior/mood, ability to focus clearly, persistent headache, changes in sleep (more tired or insomnia), or physical function, that’s a concussion.
The fact that it is the slosh, the rotational shearing force, that causes the injury more than anything else is why helmets, while important, can only do so much.
The most important item is to not let yourself get a second slosh until you are fully recovered and to not push yourself. Rest. Then gradual return to full activity.
yes, it’s the acceleration/deceleration and movement of your brain inside your skull. you can absolutely experience sufficient accelerations to cause concussion symptoms w/o anything directly striking your head.
Leaper if you’re still not feeling great, you might want to consult a doctor. The consensus of the thread is likely concussion, but we’re your online medical team. When my daughter had a concussion recently, she got some pretty specific instructions, the dr. wanted to know what kind of meds she was on, limited certain kinds of activities, and so on. If you can go to an urgent care, you should, just to get the proper instructions.
As mentioned, head banging can give concussions. It’s pretty normal to feel both completely disoriented and dizzy, with a full on headache after a black metal concert. Whiplashes can also give a concussion.
Psychotic episodes and the drugs they’re treated with can give reduced cognitive function.
I am recovering from some horrible, scourge of a virus, that gave me a high fever, and had me puking for two days. I would puke so hard my nose bled. Into the second day, a bout of puking (which was mostly mucous by that point) would give me a hell of a headache. They lasted about 20 minutes, and were every bit as painful as the migraines I got as a kid. They went all around my head, instead of just being on one side, but my gawd. I ended up crying from the pain a couple of times. So maybe the motion from the puking was actually doing some kind of damage. I hope not. I’ve been dizzy yesterday and today, but I assumed it was just the tailend of the virus (which I got tested, and is NOT the flu, and at any rate, I had a shot).
Well, I got a good nights sleep, and I feel okay; never had any symptoms like described here. Weirdest thing I still have is feeling like there’s post nasal goo in the back of my nose; something probably got jarred loose.
I think I’ll just go about my business (I don’t work out right now; lost my opportunity) and keep a close watch on how I’m feeling.
Thanks! As I said above, I do feel better, but that’s not hard, because I never felt too bad to begin with; just vaguely out of sorts. And I’m the hypochondriac type, so my self evaluation isn’t the most reliable.
But I also called the nurse line for my insurance, who ran me through possible symptoms. She also pointed out to watch for neck pain, which I wouldn’t have thought of. But right now, I feel fairly normal, so like I said, I’m just gonna watch for any conscussion symptoms but otherwise do what I need to do.
When my daughter had a concussion recently, she got some pretty specific instructions, the dr. wanted to know what kind of meds she was on, limited certain kinds of activities, and so on. If you can go to an urgent care, you should, just to get the proper instructions.