Concussion

About 12 years ago, I took a hard crash during a fast group ride. It was the worst type of crash. I hit a construction groove in the pavement at full speed and wrecked my front wheel and flipped over my bars. I struck the pavement on my shoulder and side of my head. I never lost consciousness. A trip to the ER, brain scan etc. showed no broken bones or internal bleeding. Other than being very sore- not surprising after hitting the pavement at over 30 mph- and having a mild headache nothing seemed worthy of further treatment. I was given a few ibuprofen tabs and sent home. The next day - following the old "back on the horse philosophy" I jumped on my backup bike for a short "recovery" ride. Big mistake. After a few miles, I started feeling sharp head pains with every slight bump in the road. I barely made it back home. Then followed a scenario that was similar to the one that Ben Fredrick relates here: https://ritcheylogic.com/content/news/overcoming-a-tbi/
I was more fortunate than Ben. Although I initially went through the same agonies as Ben for several weeks, I had the support of my loving family, friends and team mates, and good medical insurance. Like Ben, I learned that the symptoms of TBI persist for a long time, perhaps for the rest of your life. My advice is to take any head trauma very seriously. Even if you don't lose consciousness, any hit to your head can cause brain trauma. Give yourself at least a few days to fully recover; and consult health care professionals if you have any symptoms - headaches, dizziness, nausea, blurred vision.
Oh -- this came in an e-mail from Ritchie. I can't say for sure that the request for financial help for Ben is legit or perhaps a scam. But, Ben's description of TBI is very real. I felt the same way, and went through the same emotional experience. I'll probably take a chance and donate a few bucks to help him.

OTHRider wrote:I was more fortunate than Ben. Although I initially went through the same agonies as Ben for several weeks, I had the support of my loving family, friends and team mates, and good medical insurance

This is one of those things that most of us don't really worry about - I mean, we all wear helmets right?  My story is very similar.  I was taking an easy spin before a weekend trip to visit my daughter for Easter in 2013.  The wild mustard plants were hip high and as I hugged the upper line on a rutted trail my front tire hit a rock and got kicked violently sideways - right into a rut.  I was launched OTB and landed flat on my back. 

I knew right away I was hurt.  I had fractured my scapula and kinda had my bell rung.  I sucked up the pain, got my head to clear and walked up the hill to a tree hoping someone would cruise by and help.

Leaning on the tree helped with the shoulder pain and I closed my eyes to calm down.  Within minutes, a couple rode up and I called out to them and that's when I knew bad just got worse.  I couldn't see them.  I couldn't see anything but a real dark haze.  They got freaked out but still were able to guide me over to a flat area and strip off my Camelback.  Within minutes my vision slowly started to return and my eyes felt that weird sensation like when your pupils get dilated.

Off to the E.R. to play the waiting game.  About two hours later, I was hopped up on pain pills and everything seemed fine vision wise.  My surgeon had just returned from a stint overseas and he about jumped out of his skin when I told my about my loss of vision.  He had seen this "symptom" way too many times in the battlefield E.R.  I had my head scanned immediately and I was put in what he called "Severe Concussion Protocol".  Dark room, minimal stimulus, cool room and a nice blanket, five minute inspection intervals.

I was EXTREMELY lucky and only had a few episodes like you and Ben experienced.  I had one more scan about a week later to make sure there was no fluid buildup.  Staying off the bike was a no brainer with the scapula injury.  To me, my biggest "hurt" was being unable to concentrate for more than a few minutes on any technical issue.  I sorta felt punch drunk.  These sensations were gone within a few weeks.

I took a long look back (with my Mom's help) & we documented 5 previous concussions while I was living at home.  I could remember another five or six incidents where I saw the "flash" when my head hit something hard.  With TBI brought to everyone's attention lately, I took a leave from MTB'g and moved over to the gravel scene.  No more racing or crazy stunts for me.  I'm just as happy knocking out the miles, enjoying the scenery and keeping both wheels on the ground (mostly).  I figure at 56 years young, it was a prudent move. 

I still throw my leg over the MTB 2 or 3 times a year - almost exclusively for a Sunday cruise with fellow old guys.  Since the ride ends up in a pub, we don't dare take any chances.

Thanks for the input. You remind me of 2 very important points:
- Not only do symptoms of TBI persist for a long time. But, once you've had a TBI, you are much more susceptible to further injury should you have future head trauma. After a serious bout of TBI, you have to consider changing your cycling priorities. In my case, this meant avoiding local "outlaw" group rides, and focusing my training on time trialing instead of mass start races. 
- Bike helmets give you some protection. IMHO they are worth wearing. Unfortunately, while helmet tech. has improved - especially in the area of rider comfort- they really aren't that good in terms of safety. I'd like to see more manufacturers like POC, putting greater emphasis on going beyond the "standards" like Snell and ASA which provide only minimum protection. But, perhaps, the engineering and material science challenges of designing a helmet that is both more protective and comfortable, is impossible. Just remember, that just because you are wearing a helmet, doesn't mean that you are immune to TBI.

Good information, and I'm glad I read this thread.  I've never taken a spill like you describe, but every cyclist runs the risk of it happening, and I'm glad I know more of what to watch for if it ever happens to me or somebody I'm riding with.  

My middle daughter just had a bad wreck last weekend where she was riding in front of several women she did not know at the mountain bike nationals in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.  They were riding on a road going from the start to the mountain bike trail.  Someone behind my daughter ran into her causing a huge, nasty wreck.  My daughter was knocked out but regained consciousness quickly.  Headache, dizziness at first.  Strained neck.  No problems with eyesight.  Docs checked her out and said no brain bleed.  She's feeling better and wanting to get back on the bike.  I told her she needs to wait a couple of weeks because leaning over on a bike might not be a good idea.  Yesterday afternoon, she bent over to pick something off of the floor and said she got dizzy.  She was wearing a Bontrager helmet that has a crack in the inner liner.  Very lucky woman she didn't get injured worse.  Thanks for the post.  I'll pass along the info.

archeng59 wrote:My middle daughter just had a bad wreck last weekend where she was riding in front of several women she did not know at the mountain bike nationals in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.  They were riding on a road going from the start to the mountain bike trail.  Someone behind my daughter ran into her causing a huge, nasty wreck.  My daughter was knocked out but regained consciousness quickly.  Headache, dizziness at first.  Strained neck.  No problems with eyesight.  Docs checked her out and said no brain bleed.  She's feeling better and wanting to get back on the bike.  I told her she needs to wait a couple of weeks because leaning over on a bike might not be a good idea.  Yesterday afternoon, she bent over to pick something off of the floor and said she got dizzy.  She was wearing a Bontrager helmet that has a crack in the inner liner.  Very lucky woman she didn't get injured worse.  Thanks for the post.  I'll pass along the info.

Sorry to hear about the accident. Hope she listens to your advice. If you follow my posts on this forum, I'm usually willing to admit that I'm not sure about a lot of things. But, when it comes to concussions, I'm more certain that resting and caution are the way to go. In my case for example, I never lost consciousness; but spent several weeks in bed in the fetal position, because I didn't rest and went out for a ride the day after the accident. Those weeks, were perhaps the worst weeks of my life.