Preface: I have seen a doctor twice and going (again) tomorrow morning. This is not seeking medical advice but rather looking to see if there are folks who have experienced similar.
About 2 weeks ago, I crashed while moving over to avoid a car. Front wheel hit some sand and turned sideways so I ended up rotating and landing/siding on my right side. Nothing major overall, pretty much shredded the side of my skin/clothes from the shoes to the shoulder. Helmet had a minor scratch about an inch or two in size. I got up immediately and then rode the next 45 minutes home.
I went to urgent care because I thought my thumb was maybe broken but hand just needed a brace with no bone injury. I noted a minor headache and doc told me to take it easy on screens for a couple of days and pain-meds, etc. Didn’t do any concussion tests. Went back to a doc the next week and said I still had some headaches despite avoiding screens and activity since then. Doc then said she figured I had a mild concussion and to avoid screens as much as possible.
It’s been almost a week since and continuing to have headaches. I have a history of migraines/headaches and never had any success using medications to help them. Sleeping obviously helps but otherwise it doesn’t seem like they correlate to anything else. They pretty much start the minute I wake up and then fluctuate throughout the day. I also have a really bad history of sinus issues and the headaches are largely frontal area.
Has anyone had an experience where they had something like this where they may have crashed which triggered underlying headache issues? I’m trying to discern if they’re a sustained concussion or if they’re triggered essentially, as I have no other symptoms of concussion to any degree. Again, this is not asking for medical advice. I’ll stick to the doc for that.
I have chronic migraines (see below post) and have had a minor concussion recently (2019). Post the 2019 concussion it didn’t seem to increase or decrease my typical headaches. Concussions are hard to diagnose but I would act under the assumption that you’ve had a concussion.
I’m no doctor. This sounds like post concussion syndrome. Definitely get to a doctor with some expertise in this area to take a look or ask your doctor to get a referral to a specialist, you’ll want to ensure you take a correct steps to recover. It is really important to not to try and push through these symptoms. I have been around many athletes that have had to recover from concussions and while some recover quickly, others push too early and the post concussion syndrome can linger for much longer. This can certainly happen without huge bumps to the head, the brain is a weird and sensitive organ. Good luck in your recovery!
Thanks both @MI-XC and @nicnic19 . I have a slew of questions for my doc tomorrow already lined up. I guess it’s just been suspicious to me as immediately upon the injury I took 4-5 days of substantially reduced screen time with no activities and such, along with sleeping 9-12 hours a night (normally 6-8). I’ve gotten to the point where it just fluctuates between none/mild and moderate but typically there’s no specific with correlation to it (been keeping a daily journal with notes to track this). I guess who knows. I had one previous concussion in 2010 but was able to play soccer (per the doc) the next day provided no heading.
I think my chronic migraines were triggered by the eyes. I had the classic vomiting, dizziness and needing to spend the whole day lying in a dark room. It seemed to have culminated with a fit the day after my high school exams. Doctors never could find any problems, my brain MRI might have been a bit cloudy but they couldn’t say that was the problem. At college I started wearing glasses and it seems to have stopped. The last 20years or more have been migraine free and the only sore heads I have had is from alcohol and dehydration. I hope you are sorted soon.