Minor concussion life expectancy

[AlexLu]

Hi All,

Is there such thing as "minor concussion" survival rate? As in is the life expectancy impacted in any way by the fact someone might have suffered a minor concussion or a minimally displaced skull fracture at some point in their life?

[RogerCMerriman]

I suspect one can look it up, the facts are changing fairly fast though various wars mean more money being spent on reasurch.

Personally worrying about what could happen doesn't seem fruitful. I am aware that since I do have a brain injury there may be increased risk of various things, but it's only a risk it's not a certainty.

[malalatete]

I doubt it. It happens to so many children. I don't know another parent who hasn't had the call from school to say 'X has fallen from a climbing frame and banged their head', or spent an afternoon in A and E in the school hols to be told 'it's just concussion'. Minor accidents such as these would not be investigated as to whether they were impacting life expectancy any mre than would a broken arm or leg.

You might find some stats on brain injury -although those would be muddled by the fact that a serious brain injury can impact life expectancy very quickly indeed. And it depends on the kind of injury. Even with internal, measurable problems such as aneurysms, guesses on life expectancy impact vary hugely depending on where it is, what size it is, what shape it is, how many arteries are affected....you end up with a meaningless set of stats. I personally have a 20% reported risk of rupture for my 9mm aneurysm, although probably higher because it has complex morphology and double artery involvement. How much more?? They can't say. I could die today/ tomorrow /next month / in my nineties. They can't say. I am just more at risk than the average Joe. Way more. But then I could get run over by bus tomorrow.

You only had a minor head injury so these sorts of stats wouldn't apply in your case, which I presume is why you are asking. But you too could get run over by a bus tomorrow. I wouldn't waste time worrying about it. I would get on with life regardless. If you get wrapped up in worrying too hard, you might not notice that bus.

(Btw anxiety may well have an impact on life expectancy ...it puts your body into flight or fight mode and that places all kinds of vital systems under unnecessary stress. Glad to hear you are getting support in that area. It is probably the best thing you could do for yourself, healthwise.)

Keep happy and enjoy today

[Hidden]

I think you are getting too worked up and the 'what ifs.....' Just be grateful that you have had such a minor brain injury and that you can get on and enjoy your life from now on. Worrying too much about what could happen will spoil your whole life.

[Hidden]

I just read your page and that is a terrible thing to happen! I think the best thing to do is relax (as much as you can), it will take a while to pick yourself up and face the outside world in the same way again. It sounds like the doctors have given you the all clear with your physical health so you need to look after your emotional self- your nerves must be frazzled! I was terrified of the world after being hit by a car but I have no memory of that.

[Freckle1000]

Hi AlexLu

I've had what was thought to be a concussion but turned out to be a mild brain injury via a car accident.

I know there's a lot of research published on the internet regarding all the freaky things a brain can do after a concussion. Personally I think a lot of the stuff they talk about - in reality - comes into the ' small chance of happening' 'or fringe ideas' and isn't really relevant for ground level for people like us. Researchers like to fixate on the medically interesting weird extremes. Right now I think medical idea's (especially regarding the brain) change so quickly right now. The brain is still a major mystery area.

I come at this from a perspective of also having a chronic illness (Systemic Lupus) that causes the immune system to randomly attack pretty much any internal organ it wants to when it 'flares'.

So I come from a perspective of dealing with years of uncertainty regarding - how long do I have to live and what kind of a future will I have.

At certain times I've become way too fixated on something that hasn't happened to me yet - or might not even happen. This has been at the expense of living a full life in the moment right now.

Nonetheless - for me if I feel I don't have enough knowledge about whats going on - or there's a grey area of uncertainty - my mind just go's rampant imagining the possibilities.

My way of dealing with this isn't for everybody, but I tend to bother specialists (plural) to try and get as near accurate prediction of what might happen. I do this knowing many Doctors aren't always very accurate or of a high standard.

Over the years I've had to deal with quite a lot with neurologists (as Lupus can effect the brain and peripheral nervous system - and I've recently asked how my concussion injury will mix with this )

I've never come across a group of specialists that vary so much in their opinions when trying to get a picture of my neurological future. I've gotten a lot of - "I think this could happen - but it might not" etc. Absolutely next to nothing in the way of certainty. To be honest the only thing I can do with this kind of lack of certainty is to accept the uncertainty itself and set it aside, make the most of life and 'if' things start to go badly, then deal with it then - and only then. For me the neurologists are absolutely right - 'it' might not happen.

I really believe they don't know anything for sure when it comes to the brain and how it effect one individual to the next.

Trust me, I've spent too much time ruminating about possibilities that never eventuated.

Please don't fall into the same trap. Literally make a conscious effort to focus on the finer things in life.

[AlexLu in reply to Freckle1000]

I mean been conscious from day 1 and didn't have memory, vision or balance problems it's just a question as to whether I can have a normal life just like before and being able to get back to the gym would be a huge part of it. It would make me feel confident and happy all over again after over 6 months in which just like you I had to visit AE, doctors, neurologists etc, my anxiety may play a huge part of this but I also got occasional headaches at times especially in the frontal area which my GP reckoned it might be tension type.

[Kirk5w7]

Hi Alex,

I think you are over anxious about this. I think we are all aware that our brain injuries MIGHT have some impact on our life expectancy but you need to grab what you have now and run with that. Anxiety about health issues in the future can be self destructive.

Personally I'm finding 5 years on that the future is looking pretty rosy thank you, I go to the gym, swim etc etc, all things I never thought would happen again.

Put your energies into living your life now, tackle the future as it happens X

Janet

[AlexLu in reply to Kirk5w7]

can you swim as normal and ever experienced head aches after lifting weights or running on the threadmill?

[Kirk5w7 in reply to AlexLu]

I swim as normal and have no headaches but I take things very easily. I will gradually increase the amount I do/ size of weights. I cannot run on the treadmill yet, but I walk as fast as possible until I am tired. Again I am hopeful I can increase this. Bear in mind Alex I didn't go to the gym before my BI and I am 64 years of age.

So, I am doing more now 5 years post BI 😀

Take care Janet x

[AlexLu in reply to Kirk5w7]

Thanks Janet for your kind words I am aged 29 and had the skull fracture 6 months ago, luckily the doctors didn't intervene and the bones have been left to heal on their own so hopefully the fracture is healed by now. I reckon if I had a BI this would have been mentioned on my discharge letter and would have been picked up by CT and by the latter MRIs from early august and early Nov MRI but no mass lesions or hemorrhage were detected. Ive only been told I lost consciousness for 10-13 mins and I remember waking up in the ambulance fully aware, so don't know if this can still be classed as a concussion or just skull fracture.

[Kirk5w7 in reply to AlexLu]

Alex, I reckon you've been very lucky and try to move on now.

My BI was caused by encephalitis, I was 3 weeks in a coma and a total of 3 months in hospital. I had to learn to walk, feed myself everything in fact again and I am left with lesions on my brain.

But I have been determined not to accept too many restrictions.

I cannot work but was coming to the end of my working life when it happened. I do as much as I can, fatigue allowing, daily and look forward to what I can achieve not what I can't.

Take care, you are fine.

Love Janet x

[Freckle1000]

I think visiting Doctors over and over again can escalate anxiety. Turn things into a kind of vortex. The more I have to see them - the more - the 'possibilities' pop into my head.

I think its reasonable for you to have anxiety given the random nature of your accident and some and the uncertainties that go with that. A sudden crack in the scull in front of your left frontal lobe would give anybody the heeby jeebies as would a headache in this area.

I had (thank god) silent migraines after my bang on the head. Things eventually settled down. Had a small bleed up the top of my right frontal lobe and problems with the right temporal lobe. I've also got some white matter damage from the Lupus.

From a Lupus/brain perspective it always good to be hyper vigilant when you're uncertain about whats going on - but I've tired develop a kind of disconnect from it all. Easier said than done. The more you think about trying to distance yourself from it all, the more you're still thinking about it.

When you're in an anxious state its very hard to imagine a bright future. You just need to remember that the anxiety might be skewing your perspective on your future.

Must admit I suffer from a fair amount of anxiety myself. I'm actually on a prescription drug that literally causes a kind of grinding flat line anxiety. But I've also had some repeated trauma (accident - illness - and environmental incidents) that adds up to a kind of PTSD.

I've tried seeing some shrinks since the accident - but have found those who 'only' practice pure CBT by itself are a bit useless for trauma and trying to accept difficult changes & realities. Its entirely probable I just had some bad luck with CBT practitioners.

I've since been told to try and find an old fashioned 20th century type therapist that practices trauma psychotherapy or just basic supportive talk therapy. Essentially some emotional back up and guidance from a wise person.

I know this sounds like hippie talk, but meditation has helped stop the swirl of horrible thoughts in the head. My GP recommended Jon Kabat - Zinn Mindfullness - body scan meditation - and some of his other stuff. I found it hard to settle down to it at first. Took a lot of perseverance to reach the very start of the mindset I needed - but after practicing it daily (for ages) - it's become one of the few things that helps stop the chaos in my mind and gives me a bit a peace - allows me to live in the moment a bit more happily. There are Yoga equivalents if you're a bit too restless to lie still. It helps you to recognize whatever horrible thoughts you're having that moment - (eg doubts about the future) - and instead of fighting it or trying to fix it - it allows you to gently acknowledge the thought and let it gently drift away. Eventually you learn to clear your head totally and feel really peaceful and re - connected. Its a hard skill to learn - but it really helps once you get the hang of it. At the very least, it gives your mind a break from it all.

Like the buddists say - the only moment you have is now. The past is gone - the future is not here yet.

Try and cultivate the 'now'