After a head injury you have to be even more careful than ever to make sure you look after it. But that can be difficult if you are having problems with balance, spacial awareness, dizziness, sight, coordination or all of the above, which I was.
I think I had always been a little on the clumsy side as I was invariably sporting a bruise somewhere most days. But after my head injury it had got even more ridiculous. My partner James felt the need to walk behind me when going up stairs, and in front of me when going down so if I fell he could cushion me. But it wasn’t just the stairs we had to worry about.
Lots of people have accidentally hit their head on a open cupboard door but usually they learn from the experience. I didn’t.
Left unsupervised I could get myself into all kinds of trouble. Stupid things like I might take the lightening cable out of my phone that had been charging over night, but drop the phone through the open iron head board. Reaching down to retrieve it, I would forget a little thing like there being a wall, and smack my head.
Once you have a head injury, any time you hit your head it feels like you’ve gone back to where you started.
Every time a had a silly accident like this it hurt like hell. I’m not talking about the bump or bruise, I’m talking about feeling like your head is going to explode. If you have ever seen one of those films where someone gets trapped in a decompression chamber and the other guy throws the switch so the person inside explodes, the moments before they die their face explains it all.
The worst one was the accident I had with a revolving door.
I’d gone to see some friends who’s office had moved into a posh service centre. I’d been there before so I knew what to expect. Perhaps if it was because I was thinking about where I needed to be, but this time as I left I got it all wrong.
I didn’t notice that there wasn’t a open space and that it needed to spin a little more. I just walked straight into the glass. Wham. But I was so busy trying to regain my composure and dignity that I just carried on. The pain was unbearable, but I got into my car ready to leave. I reversed out, and started driving past the other parked cars. Then someone else started to back out, and it seemed they hadn’t spotted me yet. I knew I had to respond, but as I’d just bashed my head so hard I just couldn’t think fast enough how to stop the car! So I stepped harder on the accelerator hoping I could get out of the way fast enough.
I was lucky this time to get away with it. But it did scare me how I couldn’t remember how to move my leg to hit the break.
Multiple concussions are very dangerous. The brain finds it harder to recover from multiple injuries particularly when it is still working on one. So if you have or know someone who has had a head injury, please look out for them. The brain is as precious as it gets, and so far a transplant isn’t possible.
After a head injury you need to make sure you are fit to drive again. Read my advice on this in Important advice on driving after a brain injury.
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8 replies on “Why you must mind your head after a brain injury”
I was in two car accidents and acquired TBIs. One was in 1996 and one on March 2.this year. About one month ago, I lost my balance and smacked my head on the cement. That really hurt. Still does sometimes but I try not to think about it. SInce then, I feel the TBI symptoms have really amplified.
I try to think positive and not think too much about what could have happened inside my brain. It would scare me too much. I try to be cautious and aware but not paranoid. A feat I am working on each day liviing with TBI.
Monica I sincerely hope your symptoms calm soon. But well done for having such a level headed approach (excuse the pun).
This is so true. Each time you hit your head again, it’s a problem. Plus, mTBI reduces your risk assessment abilities, as well as your coordination, so you have a double-whammy (so to speak) of not being able to gauge the danger AND not being able to handle it as well as before.
Caution is indicated. Great post.
You put it so succinctly! ? Yes it’s amazing how we can take it for granted our ability to move safely.
Thanks – yes, TBI really does a number on our ability to assess. We have to be extra careful, so we’re not a danger to ourselves. To this day – 12 years after my last TBI – I have to take extra care, especially when I’m tired. Because I so easily misjudge. Just an occupational hazard I need to factor in.
I have always been a bit on the clumsy side, but these days I can bash into anything ?
I had a car bout 4 months ago, nice car it was, 2007 Honda Accord, but the Doh Doh bird driving<ME< didnt see the 90 degree turn coming up ever so quickly, and went off the road, and I was so lucky to hit a curb that was raised up, so it bent the frame, and when that happens, who knows, how it will drive. So sold it to the garage it was at, should have got it towed to my house, instead of getting suckered in to sell it 🙁 But both air bags blew and they were costly to replace. now I may be taking UBER car service now, does anyone know of traveling without wheels? Bus Taxi, Rail or just planes, trains, and automobiles? I have a bike, guess that will do, but dislike the fact that now when I go to work, my mother drives me, all because I royally messed up?
I know there are many who have surrendered their license, some who probably will never get it back. It’s tough to adjust to as access to a car gives some independence. Hopefully you will get another car again and things will get easier.