Diagnosing Concussion
A recent head banger muses, then questions on the subject.
About a week or so ago I fell off my mountain bike and bashed my head. The fall was hard enough to smash my helmet but I was not knocked out or being sick. Strangely it was not too bad for the first 24hrs but from then on, the pain in my head got worse and worse. 48hrs in I contacted a doctor who was unable to see me but could talk on the phone who suggested it was “just” concussion and that if it had not stopped hurting in another 72hrs I should get back in touch. 72hrs later I saw a doctor as the pain had not subsided and was told it was “severe” concussion and that it would take 7-10days to clear. At the 8 day point I met with a doctor again (by chance not by appointment) and they checked me over again and stated that it could take up to 14days to clear and given the severity of the blow suggest I should have gone to hospital at the time. Can Doctors not provide consistent advice with regards time scales and also what is the point of retrospective advice when dealing with a potential life and death situation?
March 18th, 2010 at 1:23 pm
Medical doctors do have a hard job, assessing how severe injuries are without full knowledge / scans etc. However, if they only admited that they were not infallable some of the time then things would be much better. In your situation a ‘I’m not sure so go to hospital’ would have been safer (I know hind sight is wonderful). To any medics out there - do not be afraid to say ‘I do not know’ as you will get much more respect if you do.
Glad you survived your bump to the head though.
March 18th, 2010 at 1:25 pm
I have twice bashed my head falling from a bike. First time I wnet to hospital and was told i had concussion and just to go home, but to make sure someoe kept an eye on me overnight.
The second time I threw up again, did not go to a doctor immediately, and felt fine (although I did get checked out after a couple of days). If the only advice they give is ‘go home, it will get better’, then it is difficult to know whether we should go and get checked out or not.