So…. at boxing training last night I received an accidental uppercut to the bottom of the chin. I wasn’t wearing a gum shield (was meant to be body shots only) and my mouth snapped shut at about 3 million miles an hour. Apart from a few holes in my tongue I felt ok…. but driving home afterwards my vision was a bit blurry, and then when I got home I was a bit unbalanced… dazed and confused is the best description…. super irritable and very detached feeling. Have spoken to docs who advised my symptoms are mild and that I should just rest,but I have to tell you it is not pleasant AT ALL. WEAR YOUR HELMETS!

I just hope it buggers off soon. Anyone had a similar experience?

driving home afterwards my vision was a bit blurry

You know this was a dick-move, yes? Whenever I’ve had concussion I’ve felt a bit pissed and stopped what I was doing.

Interestingly I was pondering my closed mouth earlier – wing chun teaches you to keep it closed with your tounge touching the roof. After a year its become normal to do it most of the time.

There are also other things… 🙂

Yes. A few times. Just watch yourself over the next few weeks and months. Blows to the head can have all sorts of negative effects on your hormones/mood etc. I’ve heard some real horror stories.

Numerous knees and kicks to the head over the years but no KOs or concussions. They all happened on the bike. Worst one was an otb landing on the top of my head. Wobbled home then went to an Airbourne gig. Bad idea. Went and told the medics I had some head trauma and now felt woozy/tired etc. They were extremely cagey and weird with me until I explained it hadn’t happened at the gig 😕

Dick move No. 1 – not wearing a gum shield
Dick move No. 2 – not ceasing to drive when I felt blurred vision
Dick move No. 3 – agreeing to spar with someone 10 times tougher than me

Yes it brings into perspective all this current talk about head knocks in rugby and boxing.

Watch yourself, it might last for a while.
The RFU have some very useful downloadable info on this and when you can return to activity and sport. Shortcuts now in recovery are a bad idea.

Obviously ianad, but my son was concussed this year and the hospital gave us the RFU guidelines sheet. Took him 6 weeks to be fully better.

Dick move No. 2 – not ceasing to drive when I felt blurred vision

Not so much. Concussion kind of messes with your ability to judge risk and make decisions as a matter of course.

Go to hospital. At the very best they’ll reassure you and send you home. Attitudes toward concussion have changed a lot in the last ten years.

I remember being kicked out of a St John’s Ambulance at an event about 15 years ago following a head / tree / speed incident, having no memory of where I was, how I got there, and throwing up / feeling sleepy at home later. “He’ll be all right in a bit” was the prevailing medical attitude at the time.

A minor off in Dalby car park (messing on my mate’s new bike without a helemt) resulted in minor concussion and whiplash. I treated it with G&Ts and beers aplenty. That was a very silly move. I felt crappy for a week or two.

Concussion should be taken seriously. Be careful and monitor your symptoms

Something like that should be straight to A and E really.

I had mild concussion after coming a cropper on an obstacle on a Tough Mudder. Wasn’t the nicest feeling and lasted a couple of days of dizzy episodes every now and then.

I got sucker punched at school last lesson, dickhead tapped on the shoulder, I turned and received a full on uppercut to the chin, most of the day is missing certainly all the travelling to and being examined in A&E I never got back, I “came to” on the ward in the evening.

Vaguely remember the incident and feeling woozy after, trying to carry on with my day but it became obvious to those around me something was wrong, dunno if I fell down.

Didn’t feel too bad next day, no lasting damage that I know of.

I was knocked out by a car hitting from behind on a B road.
I had post concussion symptoms for 2 months until my memory came back.

Mild concussion-you should get checked out you’re ok by a doctor either G.P. or casualty.

Take it easy for a week and see how you go.

Dick move No. 3 – agreeing to spar with someone 10 times tougher than me

Actually disagree with you here – I think it has to be done. I had a play with a Kali guy at the weekend who is a lot more advanced than me; getting my ass kicked gave me a lot to think about.

Surely the dick move was the guy chinning you when it was supposed to be all body shots? Or is that just how he maintains his “10x tougher” rep?! 🙂

As said, the rugby guidelines are pretty good – sit out for 2 weeks, then get reassessed by a doc. Then its a gentle (“graduated”) return.
Start playing again after 19 days, providing all ok.

Concussion totally messes with your ability to make rational judgements about anything. It also makes you really confused and irritable/angry. Not good when you are on your own.

I discharged myself from Stockport A&E at 4am after an OTB and drove home to Aberystwyth once with concussion. Got frustrated that I couldn’t remember the way home and drove up and down the A49 at 100 plus, getting more and more frustrated. Got home eventually, somehow. Not quite sure how as I don’t really remember the journey.

Was not really with it for about 3 weeks after that one.

^ I was knocked off my bike last Friday, knocked out completely. A passerby took me to my local doctors – don’t remember much of it, but I know that I insisted I was OK at the time.

Docs kept me in the waiting room to keep an eye on me for 30 mins, then told me I could go home. Stupidly I got back on the bike and cycled the 18 miles to work. I ‘worked’ for the afternoon, but when I came back in on Monday I had done stuff I didn’t remember 😕

The initial headache and pain when I moved my head lasted 3 days, but yesterday I got a pain at the other side of my head, as if I had hit that side too… but 6 days later.

I’m still grumpy / irritable… but that’s just normal for me 🙄

EDIT – I was wearing a helmet.

Concussion totally messes with your ability to make rational judgements about anything. It also makes you really confused and irritable/angry. Not good when you are on your own.

This. I got concussed – although I didn’t know it at the time – at the start of a race as I went over a downed rider and whacked my head on his spd. I flailed around a bit with a painful neck and confusion until I realised most of the riders had gone past me. I proceed to make my way up to finish 5th, then spotted by the first aid staggering drunkenly about got carted off to hospital and diagnosed.

Best result of then 2015 season, 30 something to 5th place whilst concussed. Not recommended though.

I bet this guy has some experience with mild concussion

Spot… That’s so utterly brilliant. Actually he’s so bright he’ll be running for president in no time.
On more serious matters my then 7 year old son suffered concussion. The next day after the event he couldn’t stand up and his speech was slurred. I thought he was having a stroke. Called ambulance. Not a good few minutes. But I surpassed myself by texting my wife to say he’s not well and so I called an ambulance… Interesting text to receive when on the train to London in the morning! All fine eventually but took a few weeks to return to normal.

Make sure someone keeps an eye on you for the next 24hrs and don’t drink any alcohol or do anything strenuous. Symptoms can take a while to show. I know, I’ve been there a few times now.

You will most likely not be in a fit state to make rational decisions for a day or two so take any advice on your fitness that your friends/partner gives you and follow it.

I gave myself concussion a few years ago using a 2 person post rammer by myself, lifted it too high and caught the top of the post it launched the rammer onto my head knocked my chin into my chest and blew all my molars out of the side of my jaws into my cheeks. I did myself in properly!

I gave myself concussion a few years ago using a 2 person post rammer by myself, lifted it too high and caught the top of the post it launched the rammer onto my head knocked my chin into my chest and blew all my molars out of the side of my jaws into my cheeks. I did myself in properly!

[s]I feel terrible for asking this, but [/s]is there a film of this? That’s most ossum.

I’ve had 2 proper concussions, the last one was a 30mph over the bars where i smashed my arm and cracked my helmet, i remember getting up and sitting down and then while looking around all the hills and everything started going white from top to bottom like they were freezing.

I managed to snap myself out of that then tried to convince my mate that I’d be fine and could ride one handed despite my knackered arm, eventually he got me to push the bike down to the nearest road and get my girlfriend to pick me up and go to A&E. After my arm was sorted they kept me there for a few hours and i couldn’t at the time work out why. It wasn’t until a day or so later it dawned on me they were just keeping an eye on me after the bang on the head 😳

The time before that was another over the bars where i landed on my elbow and head resulting in another cracked helmet. I decided as I’d only ridden about a mile and despite a really painful elbow I’d just carry on and did another 12 miles, went home and went to work as normal the next day before the pain got so bad my girlfriend told me to stop being an idiot and get it looked at.

Turns out I’d fractured my elbow and the bang on the head meant i wasn’t thinking clearly.

I got concussed – although I didn’t know it at the time

My experience is similar, it’s like you’re fine and thinking normally but to others you probably appear a bit drunk or acting weird. Point is don’t beat yourself up too much about doing silly things while having concussion 😉

I had proper concussion when I came off, hit my head on a rock and broke my jaw.

It was a weird state of conciousness – managed to ring my Mrs, but didn’t know what day of the week it was, or my daughters name – then after my Mrs instruction, managed to ring my best mate and give him directions to find me, picked up all my stuff and made it back to the road. When he got there, I spoke absolute bollocks to him for 15 minutes before the ambulance arrived. My only recollection was riding into the woods and then getting into the ambulance

I broke my cycle helmet one weekend by coming off my road bike at Surprise View in the Peak and headbutting the drystone wall not far up from the gate leading to Padley Gorge while going between 25 and 30 mph, and was concussed for 2 weeks and a bit ‘stupid’ feeling when I’d gone back to evening classes on the Thursday of the 3rd week. I couldn’t absorb anything in my Spanish classes and just sat and wrote everything down during the session without really engaging mentally very much.

On reflection I guess mine wasn’t so mild (hard to tell when it’s your own head), but probably you can expect to feel ‘fuzzy headed’ in your thinking, and don’t be surprised if your speech slurs for a moment or two before going back to normal, slurred in the way boxers can sound right after a fight. I think at the start of my 2 and a bit weeks of being concussed, I probably couldn’t concentrate to read an article in a magazine, and just pottered about the family/childhood home watching TV and stuff, and pondering my being lucky to still have a working head.

You might get a sense of having had a feeling that you knew something was going to happen, but that’s apparently sometimes a part of being concussed, feeling like there was a sign you’d missed that you’d have an accident etc. I found myself thinking about my quill stem bolt on my bike before remembering reading in a climbing magazine about the sense of premonition which can go with concussion many years before, it was a relief to remember about it and be able to dismiss it.

Yup some good tales here. Am feeling better today, so you can all stop worrying!

Best way to describe it is like being drunk while being sober. Thanks for the input…. was quite reassuring to hear from those saying that it does eventually improve! Just made me think of the film The Crash Reel, poor guy.

Destroyed a full face helmet at Antur Stiniog few months ago!
My head was pretty sore for a week,doctor advised to stay off the bike for 3 weeks,mainly because of the risk of second impact that could prove fatal!
Felt fine after a week and no problems since.
Some good info on Concussion here
http://concussionfoundation.org/learning-center/what-is-cte

I had the detached feeling witine, and continuos déjà vu.
Very weird but no dizziness etc.

I didn’t know about secondary impacts potentially being fatal. I put a toeclip on the pedal for my uninjured leg and cycled round the corner one legged with my bandaged left leg held out of the way of the pedal to buy a magazine from being stir crazy pottering around at home. Oops.

Drunk while sober is a great way of describing it.

Quite an informative article on pink bike a few months ago,

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/the-bakery-changing-what-we-think-we-know-about-concussions.html

The cullmative effects of concussion in sport have been attributed to suicide also, get it checked out and rest.

I can remember having a smaller secondary knock to my head after a bigger one sometime earlier and feeling that the smaller knock made me feel weirder than it should have done, can well believe over time they can have a bad effect.

Numerous knees and kicks to the head over the years but no KOs or concussions.

Worst one was an otb landing on the top of my head. Wobbled home then went to an Airbourne gig. Bad idea. Went and told the medics I had some head trauma and now felt woozy/tired etc. T

So, which story are you sticking with: the no concussions, or the very obvious concussion that you describe?

I came off on the road on sheet black ice once, one moment I was upright, next the bike and I were sliding along with helmet (on my head!) bouncing off the road.

Got up, felt a bit woozy, put it down to shock, and decided that to avoid any more ice I would ride home along a series of unlit, isolated rural towpaths that still had 2-3 inches of proper grippy snow on them. In the dark. At 6pm. And in temperatures that had never got above freezing all day.

With hindsight, I suspect that there was some concussion affecting my decision making.

Having ridden the trail above a fair few times before I came into the that feature a lot faster than before and someone cocked up the drop, landing on my head and shoulder. After about 10 seconds lying on the ground I got up, stumbled about a bit then sat down until I could stand without holding on to a tree. Out for a few seconds I think, but no memory loss, knew where I was, vision ok etc. Rode down and got checked out. Was very quiet that evening and basically felt like I was mildly stoned or drunk for the whole of the next day. Took about a week before I OK to do a full day at work as though I felt fine moment to moment, I couldn’t sit at a desk and programme all for more than a few hours at first.

I couldn’t sit at a desk and programme all for more than a few hours

You weren’t working on a new government computer system at the time were you? It would explain a lot…. 😉

I fell and hi the back of my head on a icy, hard piste. Sat up and genuinely did not know where I was or the day of the week. Carried on skiing but remember feeling detached.
Really unpleasant experience which prompted me to buy ski helmet, my first lasted 3 days before it dented deflecting a ski/head collision. Been better since 😉