My partner had a concussion many years ago, it was an eye-opening experience.
After months of mostly-useless conversations with doctors, neurologists, etc, we visited a sports medicine specialist who worked with snowboarders, skiers, etc, people who get concussions frequently.
The way the specialist described common concussion symptoms was really interesting: Effectively, your brain finds balance by using a combination of sight, touch (feet), and your inner ear. A concussion can impact the inner ear part of that equation, so your brain is overly reliant on sight and touch to compensate. This can cause all kinds of common concussion symptoms: Dizziness, sensitivity to screen time, etc.
Anyways, after giving us the rundown my partner was prompted to do a few simple exercises to test concussion symptoms. One of them was to stand on one leg and track a moving pen with her eyes. She'd done OK on some of the previous exercises but this one took her out, she lasted maybe 5 seconds and was completely exhausted and dizzy for the rest of the day because of it.
We ended up with a physical-therapy-like balance exercise plan that she stuck to regularly for a few months, and it ended up getting her to complete recovery.
Scotty, from Strange Parts, aka the youtube guy who showed the world that Apple could have included a headphone jack this whole time, went through a similar set of circumstances.
Like you said, extremely eye opening, and very good information to have. There is help available, and it likely won't come from a normal neurologist until their training catches up to the research.
People often seem to have a casual attitude to concussion; you read sports star X is out with a concussion and think little of it. Another word for concussion is "traumatic brain injury" and that tends to get it across better. I had a bad concussion a while ago and I still get occasional headaches, I had a tinnitus for months (if you are unlucky, it stays with you forever) and my sense of smell is permanently altered. I was ultimately lucky on that one too, enough force and you can permanently sever the connection to your olfactory receptors.
The neck is also surprisingly fairly involved in the balance system, I unfortunately have a lifelong inner ear deficit (deafness and vestibular) on one side and there have been times where neck tightness caused significant issues with my eye tracking (nystagmus). It’s really all connected, also salt intake, caffeine etc. can impact your balance / dizziness due to the pressure in your inner ear canals where the otoliths are swimming.
I once had a bad dream and violently shifted in bed hard enough to headbutt the connected nightstand next to my pillow (weird design). Hard enough to bleed.
I was dizzy for days whenever I laid down. It was as if I was spinning in an amusement park ride slowly.
I called an ex GF neuro radiologist, who after realizing I wasn't going to go in for any scans (no health insurance at the time), told me of a series of "brain/balance reset exercises" you can do. I did the exercises, moving my head in several positions in a particular order, and all symptoms went away.
More or less benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. The bang on your head dislodged crystals that form in the fluid in your ear’s semicircular canals. These crystals form with age and normally collect in some nook in the inner ear. When they are floating around in the fluid, they can strike the tiny hairs in your inner ear that indicate to your brain how your body is moving and how it is positioned. When fluid flows by the Haus and makes them sway, your brain interprets that as motion.
But when a crystal hits a hair, your brain interprets it as “I am suddenly moving about one axis at high angular velocity.” You become insanely dizzy. The nature of this phenomenon is that when you turn your head one way, you feel like you are falling forever in that direction.
Solution: the Epley maneuver. Turn your head quickly in the direction of the falling while you are sitting in a bed. As your head turns, fall backwards quickly on to the bed. This motion more or less tucks the crystals back into their niche so you can regain your sense of balance.
The brain is crazy. The inner ear is crazy. See an ENT specialist before you follow my dumbass version of doctor’s orders, but if you suffer from Bppv maybe this will be interesting information.
I studied neuroscience in undergrad and never learned about this. Thank you for sharing, I feel like I’ve experienced this phenomenon over the years and it might explain the changes in my behavior and erratic moods thereafter.
It wasn't exactly what you've described, but Im sure with enough googling someone could find all the various brain balance reset protocols and just try them all.
Downside: the Epley maneuver makes you feel so, so dizzy while it is resetting the crystals. Trying every one of these weird motion sequences one after another would probably give you some peculiar syndrome all on its own.
Like I said above consult a vestibular therapist, neurologist, or someone other than this dummy if you want real medical advice.
But it is real fascinating that this kind of physical manipulation is so effective.
Do you or anybody else have any resources to share regarding such training? I suffered a concussion 5 years ago and two more shortly after, and I still suffer from regular dizziness due to sunlight / busy environments and after too much screen time. It has taken away much of the joy of my twenties. Thank you.
Unfortunately I don't know anything online, but I would suggest seeking out sports medicine/physiotherapy folks who work with your local concussion-heavy athletes (snow sports, mountain biking, etc). Good luck!
The person we saw was a master of science in physical therapy, and specialized in/had personal experience with concussion rehab. They were based near a ski mountain, and thus a stream of athletes getting concussed regularly.
If you aren't near any skiing, I'd seek out sports medicine/physical therapy folks who work with your local concussion-heavy athletes. Mountain bikers, cyclists, maybe football/rugby, etc.
There is "vestibular therapist" specialty which is physical therapist that specializes in vestibular issues. I had one who helped with vertigo from BPPV and some of the recovery exercises sound similar.
Ie. Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health (ISEH) in London has both a neurologist (Richard) and a physio (Theo) specialised in concussion recovery, and working together. Been very useful for me (guessing you could do some assessments remotely).
Glad to hear your partner is better. My wife dealt with a serious brain injury in her early 20s (she has since fully recovered) and it’s always a concern of mine if she were to be hit in the head again.
After months of mostly-useless conversations with doctors, neurologists, etc, we visited a sports medicine specialist who worked with snowboarders, skiers, etc, people who get concussions frequently.
The way the specialist described common concussion symptoms was really interesting: Effectively, your brain finds balance by using a combination of sight, touch (feet), and your inner ear. A concussion can impact the inner ear part of that equation, so your brain is overly reliant on sight and touch to compensate. This can cause all kinds of common concussion symptoms: Dizziness, sensitivity to screen time, etc.
Anyways, after giving us the rundown my partner was prompted to do a few simple exercises to test concussion symptoms. One of them was to stand on one leg and track a moving pen with her eyes. She'd done OK on some of the previous exercises but this one took her out, she lasted maybe 5 seconds and was completely exhausted and dizzy for the rest of the day because of it.
We ended up with a physical-therapy-like balance exercise plan that she stuck to regularly for a few months, and it ended up getting her to complete recovery.