Treating a concussion question.

Disclaimer: Comments below will be taken with a grain of salt and no one will be held liable for their opinion.[/I]

mtn's qualifications: 1 suspected concussion in my life time. Much online research about it. Ice hockey referee who has been "trained" to spot the symptoms and has sat through at least 3 hours of seminars talking about concussions. Many doctors and nurses in the family, including my mother and MIL (nurses). Wife works at a hospital so has picked up a lot, but her field is nutrition.

He's probably ok alone by this point, but I would try hard to make sure someone was over checking on him every few hours or so. This is brain damage and shouldn't be berked around with.

He should not be reading, he should not be using a computer or tv, and should not be using a cell phone. He should be in a dark room, laying down, and generally just sleeping. When he gets food, he should be having someone bring it to him, and he shouldn't be making it himself.

It sounds like it was a bad concussion--or possibly 3 concussions. If he hasn't yet, he should be taking off of work for at least a day after as well.

Wait...shot himself in the eye with a nail gun?

Jesus! <img src="/media/img/icons/smilies/googly-18.png" class="smiley" alt=""

Edit: re-read the op, but, still..

The hardest part of recovering is resting your brain. That means doing berkeley all. Just sitting still and chilling. The biggest danger is that he can't do that and delays recovery.

Should be ok (dude needs to start wearing a helmet though). You don't mention his age, unfortunately as we age some blood vessels weaken and a good shot to the noggin can cause a bleed. Might not have been picked up on the MRI, I'd keep a close eye on him for signs of neurological deterioration and get a follow up exam done by a neurologist (not just an ER doc).

<--- 4 years in an ER, not a doctor

I know from watching cartoons that when you get whacked in the head - the way to undo any damage is to whack you in the head again. So, he has 3 whacks. It's out of balance. One more ought to do it.

You really have to do nothing - no TV, no reading, no internet, etc. My son recently went through this and it drove him nuts, but was very helpful in his recovery.

mazdeuce wrote: The hardest part of recovering is resting your brain. That means doing berkeley all. Just sitting still and chilling.

This would seem to indicate that a fairly large percentage of Americans are recovering from concussions?

3 hits and possibly 3 concussions in that timeframe, a week isn't going to do it, it's going to be more like 3-6 weeks.

I've had 9 confirmed and another 4-6 suspected. And now have elevated protein levels in my spinal fluid, have had 2 strokes and have uncontrolled tremors in my arms 3-6 times a day to show for it, along with the occasional leg tremors.

Tell him to take in easy until after the first of the year. And to schedule an appointment with a neurologists now and give a full history on the recent head trauma. 6 weeks of inconvenience beats the rest of his life.

Wife is an ICU nurse and has told me about the importance of shutting the brain down to let it heal. Tranquility tank would be ideal except you would go stir crazy and start banging your head on the walls.

As to leaving this dude alone? Not sure he should be unsupervised at any time with this record. Perhaps a fashion shift?

While(fortunately) nothing severe like your friend, I can completely understand how it could happen. Somehow over the last few years I've completely lost cognizance for the dimensions of my cranium, causing me numerous scrapes & cuts from shelves, doors & whatever else I'm in close proximity to.

Huckleberry wrote: I know from watching cartoons that when you get whacked in the head - the way to undo any damage is to whack you in the head again. So, he has 3 whacks. It's out of balance. One more ought to do it.

Paging Dr Howard to the ER.

I've only had one confirmed concussion in my life, and it came with a bunch of other injuries, so resting wasn't to hard to accept.

It would be next to impossible to make me rest for days if I'm not gravely ill or busted up.

If I were that guy you couldn't leave me for days because I'd be up and working in a couple of hours.

Thanks folks, but given his current attitude, anger and lack of patience he may not want to hear it.

Dan

Rest rest rest. I had a big one (among other injuries) back in 1997 in a car wreck, and still have troubles with headaches and occasional vertigo.

Huckleberry wrote: I know from watching cartoons that when you get whacked in the head - the way to undo any damage is to whack you in the head again. So, he has 3 whacks. It's out of balance. One more ought to do it.

<img src="make funny GIFs like this at MakeaGif" />

avoid alcohol.

play twitchy/fast paced video games to retrain the brain (this study came out of University of Rochester).

Look how long it took Jr. to get the ok to drive.

In reply to iceracer:

exactly, although to be fair to noise of being track side, in the garages and of course in car is a terrible idea. I stayed in on the pit box through the weekend for a team at the Baltimore Gran Prix one year after having suffered a concussion during Thursday practice and it was one of the biggest mistakes regarding post concussion decision making that I've ever made.