So if you're not familiar with me on MAP I recently had a boxing match in which I was knocked out and they gave me 30 days to not spar or compete. Other than a minor, throbbing headache that would last a few moments I wasn't really feeling anything. I was even in the gym the next day, although I didn't do anything that involved any kind of impact that could jar my head at all. So all week I'm feeling fine and Thurs/Fri I decided to start hitting the heavy bag. I guess I did too much. Yesterday I was out with the wife and ended up having to call an ambulance for the ER because I was so confused, nauseous, and I pretty much felt like what an abstract painting looks like. I got checked out and my blood work was ok, they also didn't find anything on a brain scan that required immediate attention but recommended I see a neurologist which I will be doing soon. I also need to get cleared by a neurologist in order to start boxing again, will have to have a discussion on appropriate kinds of exercise as well. What I'm really wondering is if anyone has had a similar experience. Ever since the trip to the ER I've felt funny in my head which I didn't feel prior in the week. I can't really describe it how I've been feeling. My head feels foggy/stuffy and I feel like I'm constantly spinning in one direction (like you feel if you're really drunk) but without the visual/physical feeling of spinning, especially when I get up and walk around. It feels like I'm biased towards wanting to go right as a direction? That and one eye is dilated a bit more than the other. Has anyone else gotten this with a concussion? If so, how long did it take before things became bearable and you were able to start doing your normal daily routine? I'm taking tomorrow off from school most likely, but while I'll be cutting boxing out of my routine for a bit I can't cut school and other obligations. Just looking for other's experiences, not any real answers.
I think maybe you were getting hit a lot harder in your fight than you give credit. That guy was huge. It is a good thing you got a brain scan (I'm guessing it was a CAT scan) and they did not find anything to be concerned about. Be aware of your body's warning signs, it may be a bit before you are 100% again. One thing that I'm not sure if you addressed was how head gear can affect where the force goes from a blow to the head. A lot of the force goes back into your neck as a result of head gear. Maybe consult your doctor about whether wearing a neck brace would help during your recovery. I know in the long term, neck braces are not good because they can cause the neck muscles to weaken from lack of use; however, if some of your injury is due to "whip lash", a brace can help. Take care of yourself.
A friend of mine got hit by a car in a parking lot and hit his head on the pavement. Got a real bad concussion from it. I've been surprised how it has effected his daily life so much. I never realized just how damaging a bad concussion can be to someone. That I've noticed, his short term memory is shot, for a while he couldn't focus his eyes or mind on anything, and he had to be careful to stay away from anything that might tap his head for a long time. He never said anything about spinning, but I wouldn't be surprised.
Here are symptoms of a concussion: Asymmetrically dilated pupils is called anisocoria. I think it would very wise to call the ER line and ask to speak with a nurse immediately at the hospital where you were seen. Describe your symptoms. I imagine he/she will recommend returning to the ER.
I couldn't find a medical term for a tendency to pull to the right, but I did find this .gif illustrating the science behind the phenomenon. (It's going in spoilers to prevent Ero from becoming dazzled, falling out of his chair, and worsening his concussion.) Spoiler Did they put you in the big, white, donut, Star Trek machine Ero? (They result in more accurate, detailed diagnostic imaging at the trade-off of more radiation and higher cost.)
Yep, that's the machine. And you get a "nothanks" on the running cactus man. That made my head all kinds of funny feeling. : P
A physio can help you with exercises to sort out your balance (but you need to find a physio that has experience in head injury rehab). Nausea can be partially managed with sea-sickness tablets. The most important thing is to get a lot of rest and minimise stimulation. You have suffered an injury to your brain, if you suffered an injury to your ankle you probably wouldn't try to walk on it for a while, your brain also needs to be rested in order to recover. My wife suffered a moderate TBI (traumatic brain injury), and she took two years to return to full-time work, even 4-5 years after the injury there are still lingering issues. Luckily for my wife, a number of my family members work in the brain injury sector, so we were able to access support that often the general public isn't aware of. With a mild TBI you should have a full recovery relatively quickly, however expect the process to take a few months rather than days. If you have any issues with sleep (which is a common side-effect), we found melatonin to be a great help getting sleeping patterns back to normal.
You either got a CT/CAT scan or an MRI then, by the way. Your symptoms where listed under moderate concussion symptoms, from the first post I made.
I don't think I'll use Google anymore. I'm going to post on MAP and wait for you John. It's a lot easier then hunting around to find names of things and symptoms that match up I'm sure the eye was dilated at the ER too, I think I noticed it that morning before going out with the wife. I also had a pretty decent black eye on the eye in question as well. It's not dilated to the extreme and the brighter the room is the less you can tell. I've had worse but will definitely be watching it though. As far as the scan goes, I have no idea. I'm glad my wife was with me to figure things out. The only thing I could get out of my mouth when they brought the scan up was "how much does that cost, I have VA health insurance does it cover this?" Luckily ER services are covered by my medical insurance with the VA, but the nurses/doctors weren't happy that I was asking that question and tried to put the "this is your health we are talking about" spin on everything which was received by a "yeah, ok" head shake and questions about who to talk to about financial stuff by my wife. May be great for you to talk about my health, but me not being able to live financially for the rest of the year isn't going to do my health any benefit either.
Wow, that is a very nasty injury! :O Get well soon, dear Ero. And like others have said, take it easy.
Guess I was about 15 when I git hit in the back of the head by a soft ball, I was pitching and it was a line drive, I was out about ten minutes I guess. I threw up for two weeks and couldn't hardly move without severe pain. That was years ago though, and I seem to be fully recovered now. You did the right thing by calling the ambulance and seeing a doctor. Get plenty of rest in a dark quiet room, keep a cool cloth on your forehead, stay in bed if you can. Try eating something light like crackers, sip some water or some sports drink I would avoid caffeine. Did the Dr, give you any meds?
I had a bad concussion once. Funny thing is I didn't even have much of a headache. But I spent the next couple of months sleeping a lot more than usual, and spent most of my wednesday afternoons (high school) lying on the floor in the living room, in the spot where the sun shone brightest, napping. Otherwise I felt tired, a bit zombie like. I needed sleep a lot and because I rested so much, I had no after effects. Eventually. You have 1 brain. you know you had a bad concussion. if you like not being a zombie, then rest and don't work out too hard. And for pete's sake, stop worrying about your next fight already. First get better and then worry about when you can fight next, if at all. If you don't take care, then you could take those concussion side effects with you for the rest of your life, just like my wife.
First, you should worry about whether your insurance covers this before you decide to get into the ring. And second, even if they would not cover it and you'd end up with the bill, you should still worry about your head because if you have something and you would get hit again, you could be affected for the rest of your life. You already know you're affected. The question is just how bad, and what are the long term effects.
Ero, I assume the reason the doc’s told you not to spar or compete for 30 days was that they don’t want your brain to be rattling around your skull within those 30 days. If your hitting the bag, the same force your strikes put in to the bag is also being put in to your body, including your skull which thereby rattles your brain and does the opposite of what your doc’s advised you to do. I’d take your doc’s advice, but interpret it as “no brain rattling” for 30 days. In other words, don’t do anything which has a jarring effect on your body, including running, jumping, etc, etc. I think something like weight lifting would be fine, but again you can’t make any jarring movements so no explosive lifts and such, just steady and slow repetitions. I’ve seen people with concussion who were feeling so crappy (dizzy, upset balance, etc) that they had to stay horizontal for a good few weeks. Probably best not to agitate your injury and let it heal properly. There are ways to minimise the amount of force which travels back in to your torso/skull when you strike, this is done by some postural/structural changes which go with certain power generation methods and by changing the angles of strikes, but I don’t think either of these methods would be very compatible with traditional boxing, I’ve only ever seen it in some Chinese martial arts and have heard Systema people mention it before. Take it easy and get plenty of rest.
Aw man, that sucks, your career was over before it even got started ('cos your wife aint letting you near no boxing ring after showing her up like that) I've been lucky enough never to have prolonged symptoms, but the couple of people I know who did were completely fine after a couple of weeks.
Damn man...with that happening I wouldn't be down the gym I'd be curled up in bed and getting the missus to bring her "wounded soldier" a nice cuppa and a biscuit. Sort it out Ero. You know the score. Dial it all back a bit. Have some rest and then build back in again slowly.
Thanks for all the info, shared experience and support guys! I'm actually feeling kind of ok this morning other than a headache. Honestly I appreciate physical pain a lot more than the absence of it. Feeling weird with no pain worries me a lot more than something more tangible. I didn't even go to school today but judging on how today goes I'll probably start getting back into things tomorrow (school, not working out). I'll probably leave all physical activity out until I see a neurologist. @inthespirit - I'm guessing it was definitely the bag work I decided to do. I should have remembered when I started boxing my head would feel jarred after bag work if I was rolling my shoulder correctly with the punch and on impact. Some of the bobbing/weaving drills I was doing probably wasn't a good idea either. Entirely stupid on my part. @count - I know money shouldn't be a question when it comes to physical health. It's hard when I knew what they were going to do was going to be a bill big enough to buy a car with though. It was more of a question of whether or not my VA medical insurance I have for 5 years after service (due to being deployed in a combat zone) covered the bill at THAT hospital, or if I needed to be transported for care. Supposedly ER services are covered with my type of insurance though. I rarely go to or want to go to the hospital, but after my little episode there was no question about getting medical attention. It just sucks that I have to measure and weight where I needed to get it at so I didn't end up in a bunch of debt. @Holyheadache - fat chance! I may have to rest up until the end of the year, but that's just going to mean I'm going to be in ridiculous shape Again, thanks for the support and sharing guys. Makes me feel better.
Glad you're feeling better, Ero. I know how bad it sucks being out of commission due to injury. (had surgery myself earlier this year and wasn't even allowed to lift anything heavy for ~2 months ) You're going to be anxious to get back to your routine the whole time, but finding a relaxing hobby helps. Perhaps meditation/prayer to keep your mind in a happy place. Writing, composing, reading, art, and foruming helped me. Quite a big part in recovering is psychological. You'll get through this and make a great comeback. Listen to your docs WRT getting back into your routine too. I had a terrible time with that one...I'm very impatient. :/
This is becoming my concussion experience blog. So I have to go through Veteran Affairs for medical stuff since I can't afford good health insurance at this time in my life. I called them to make an appointment today and the phone was actually answered immediately by a person (this is the equivalent of water turning into wine with the VA). I explained the situation and then I asked how to see a neurologist. I have to make an appointment with my primary care physician who is with the "green clinic" (you're sorted by last name into different color clinics). I asked how to do that. I was given a phone call interview date for NEXT Friday with him at 1-1:30 (hopefully I'm not busy). At this interview, we will discuss when a good time to come in for him will be (from past experience, it will be a month or two later). When I go in to see him, I'll hopefully be scheduled for a neurologist which will also probably be at a later date than that appointment. So going to see the doctor over a concussion with the VA is going to take a couple months. So I'll probably be fine by then making the trip useless. My wife got mad at me when I told her how it's going down and that I need to start calling every day of the week and whatever. Already tried that with a previous health issue and an ER visit. They really do not care much about you, but I don't know why my wife had to get mad at me about it. Oh how I can't wait for my wife to get employed and to get out of school to have a job (although I'm essentially getting paid to go to school currently) so I can afford good health insurance. I bet a lot of people would flip out if they had to jump through a hoop on top of a ladder traveling at warp speed at a 45 degree angle sideways just to go see their doctor.
I doubt this is the sort of thing you want to hear, but have you considered taking some time off from boxing once you are recovered? Maybe doing BJJ or something like that if you like serious competition fighting? I respect boxing in a big way, but there is no way I would want to willingly box guys like the one you last fought. For me it would be like getting into a pit with a bear with only a wooden sword. Props for you for doing it...
