If you have a concussion right now and are seeking quick help, scroll down to where the bold text starts. Do not waste screen time reading the prologue below and then get off the computer asap!  Hope it helps you!

 

On January 2, 2019 I received my third concussion. It was on the anniversary of when I received my very first concussion, exactly one year before. I was heartbroken and as soon as I hit my head on the car getting into it,  I knew it would result in a concussion. I cried all the way to work and when I got there I promptly told my boss what had happened. My previous concussion took 5 1/2 months to heal. This was because I didn’t do the proper things, didn’t know the proper things and therefore messed myself up right from the start.   I didn’t eat the proper foods and I did not take the right supplements to help it heal. I had no idea how serious and how long a concussion could take to heal. Or that it could take over your life,  until this experience last year.   

In June 2018,  I was finally starting to feel better from hitting my head in January (concussion #1). It had taken forever and way too long and being back to normal was the greatest gift I have ever gotten. I had just returned from a weekend festival,  The Women on Water Paddling Festival and was unpacking my car. 

On the Sunday after the festival was over, being in “the city“ as we call it up north,  I decided before heading back to my town which had very little to offer as far as takeout food and desserts,  that I would stop at Dairy Queen and pick up a blizzard. I had had a great weekend and felt I was due my ice cream and as I have colitis and spent the weekend in a dry suit, I had abstained from having it at the event. I ate the blizzard on the way home and once I arrived I pulled up to the front door to start unpacking my car. The place I lived at at the time didn’t have a key to the front door,  but it could be opened from the inside.  I used it to unload and load my gear easily, then would go inside to open the door and bring everything in from there.

As colitis  does,  the symptoms sometimes come on quite quickly when you have an urgency to have to remove whatever it is you put in your system that you shouldn’t have. This was the case on that Sunday. As I was returning to the car to get another load to put at the front door,  I knew immediately I had to go to the washroom and I had to go now. I raced quickly to shut my car doors so I could literally run into the house and get to the bathroom on time. When I went to do so however,  I didn’t get my head out of the doorway quickly enough and slammed the door on my head. 

I ran into the house not even making it to the bathroom on time and once I finally got there I sat there with my head in my hands crying because I knew right away I had just received my second concussion. I had just purchased a new home and in only 2 1/2 weeks my dad and his friend would be coming to stay for ten days to do renovations on my house. There was absolutely no way that I could have a concussion right now. I had to get rid of it fast and I managed to do so in only two weeks. Like the concussion I received on January 2nd, 2019, I was determined to get rid of it as quickly as possible and I managed to do so in only two weeks time, again.  This led me to believe I had figured out how to get it over with quickly and inspired me to write this post, post #2 on concussions.

Now I am not 100% sure, but I believe that concussions are different for every person and the severity of it would obviously depend on how hard you hit your head and I’m sure a bunch of other things mixed in.  I can only tell you what I did these past two times that helped me get over my concussion in a few weeks as opposed to many many months,  in hopes that it will help someone else find relief as quickly as I did.   

I am in no way an expert on concussions, or a professional in the field,  and I do not claim to be. This is just a combination of all the things that I have learned in my research and from friends who have shared their information with me of how they have gotten rid of their concussions quickly, and,  I am in turn,  relaying all of that information to you

Now as I said from the beginning,  you can either be very serious and get rid of the concussion in a short time,  or, cheat and have it take much much longer. The problem is if you cheat, the only person you’re cheating is yourself. You also may not know any better,  which I didn’t when I received my first concussion, but I no longer can use that excuse and I won’t because suffering with post concussion syndrome is one of the worst things I’ve ever had to go through and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

The most important thing your brain needs after you impact your head is to rest it to recover. That doesn’t mean taking a week off work and binge watching Netflix, or working on your blog, or catching up on making YouTube videos. It means exactly that,  sleeping and resting without using your brain for an entire week.   For the time that you cannot sleep you need to lay in a dark room or sit, and literally stare off into space and not think and just relax. I have found that after a few days I am able to listen to audiobooks so this is my saving grace. Once I find a good audiobook while I am not sleeping I am laying with my eyes closed, or staring off into space in a dark room letting an audiobook entertain me so that I do not think and just follow along with the story. I highly recommend something very easy to listen to,  and not complex, stressful or intricate.  

The other major thing that is required is to get the inflammation down inside your brain. You may not have a bump on your head but most likely the area you hit it or it got hit will be very tender to the touch.  Purchase or create a very thin ice pack,  combine it with a scarf,  and wrap it around your head. Put the ice pack into the spot to cover the area which was impacted on your head and leave it there for 10-15 minutes at a time,  on and off as you see fit.   This is only the first way to reduce the inflammation and the only way I believe from the outside in. The other requirements are all from the inside out and there are a lot of ways you can do this surprisingly.  

Everything that you put into your body at this time will affect you and help or hurt your concussion symptoms.   Sugar promotes inflammation and should be avoided at all costs along with alcohol and junk food. If you’re lucky, it’s only a  week or a few weeks and you can certainly go without these things for a few weeks and survive. This is my most serious suggestion. Every single thing that you put into your body will affect your concussion right now, so you need to make it count.  Below is a list of everything but I did my best to ingest and take to recover from concussion number two and three.  There are other beneficial foods and supplements that you can take, however, this is what I used and therefore can only comment on from my experience.  

 

Extremely important items:

Omega three fish oil supplements. Take three times a day with every meal.   Suggestion: Keep these in the freezer and that will keep the taste from repeating on you.

Arnica 30 mg. Take two,  three times a day with every meal.   Amazing stuff. 

Turmeric: this is the one I take on the left,  however,  I have been told by an expert concussionist, lol,  that she takes the one on the right.

Turmeric and ginger tea. Drink several times of day.

Chamomile tea is also good before naps and bed to promote restful sleep.

Ginger chews, take whenever headaches begin, then find a dark quiet place and rest until the headache subsides.

Avocado: I try to eat one at least every single day in the first week especially. These are huge for recovery in my opinion and great for your brain. 

Red grapes: eat every day if possible. Also reduces inflammation

Nuts and seeds:  nuts that are high in protein and  are good for your brain. Ingest them often as a snack and to help your brain recover.  

Gravol: this isn’t a concussion medicine specifically. I take it before naps and before bed to help me sleep because that is the effect it has on me. I also drink a cup of chamomile tea before bed or before having to have a nap to help promote restful sleep. 

Avoid sugar at all costs. Try to avoid junk food and alcohol as well. Eat as healthy as you possibly can. Even having just a tiny bit of sugar a day can slow down your recovery. It’s not worth it.   

Keep a schedule and stick to it.  That means you get up the same time every day, you go to bed at the same time, you nap at the same time, you eat each meal at the same time. Obviously, this isn’t going to be on the button exactly for everything, but do your best to keep things the same each day,  as this will help you in the long run.

Chicken and/or fish should be eaten daily, if possible. You’re looking for white meat if possible for the chicken,  and fish that is high in omega-3 fatty acid’s. These help the brain to recover. 

When you are ready to return to the screen, start slow. One hour a day,  or even one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening after your nap. Also you can get special glasses for the computer to take the harmful tint out, however, I have tried these and find them of little use. Most phones and computers have night settings on them. You may find this feels more comfortable to your eyes and your head, or just warming the colors and removing some of the brightness will help.  It’s a simple way to make your eyes more comfortable with the screen when you first start reintroducing that to your routine. Also, avoid glare if possible.

Hopefully if you do everything right from the start in a week or two, you will mostly be recovered or getting close to it. If you are not,  you need to take things slowly and whenever you start feeling symptoms such as headaches,  nausea,  dizziness and/or double vision, you need to stop doing whatever it is you’re doing,  lie down and close your eyes and rest until the symptoms go away.   

Head and neck massage: I have found this extremely helpful when attempting recovery of my concussions. Sometimes your neck can block or slow the flow of blood to your brain,  which will inhibit your recovery. This was the case in my first concussion and I was unaware of it until after 3 1/2 months of trying to recover. Once I began seeking out treatment from a chiropractor,  my recovery moved along much faster. This may or may not be the case for you,  but it is something that you should be aware of and think about.  I often just sit and massage my head, the area where I hit it, if it is not too tender to touch, my face, and my neck. It is not uncommon to have facial pain such as that you may experience when having a sinus infection.  I have also received pangs of pain from previous injury areas that were not relevant to the current area of impact in any way. I have been told all of these things are normal and part of post concussion syndrome.  

Getting outside and enjoying some fresh air is also a great way to pass time when healing a concussion. Just make sure that your eyes are covered with dark sunglasses as the light may bring on symptoms,  and that you are in a quiet place. Also do your best to stay away from crowded areas, places with bright lights, such as the mall or the grocery store.  You will most likely want to avoid people for a while, and I’m told all of these things are normal.  

After your concussion symptoms have dissipated and you are feeling better, it is suggested and recommended that you continue with the fish oil, daily,  and also perform some neck exercises which have been shown by some to reduce the potential for future concussions.

As mentioned above, I am not a doctor, a nurse or medical professional in any way. I am just a person, who has now had 3 concussions and have learned the best way to heal them as quickly as possible for me. There may be other ways, other products and other methods to do this. These are just the things I did to help myself get over the concussions quickly.  When looking for information online about concussions, I found it very difficult to find all of this information in one place, which I why I decided to write about it here, in hopes to help others and have it easy to locate, all in one place.

I wish you nothing but good healing vibes and hope if you do have a concussion that this helps you somehow and it’s not a super serious one that takes years to heal.  Yes, that does happen unfortunately, and those types of concussions need medical attention.  These ones, should also be checked out by a medical professional, sorry I did not mention that earlier.  This post is basically to advise those who have been to the doctor and have been told, you have a concussion, go home and rest, don’t think and you should start feeling better in a week or so.  (which is what I was told the first time). This is the information that should go with, in my opinion, that diagnosis.  If symptoms persist or are more serious, seek medical advice.

 

Best wishes

concussion christina