Readers Respond: Have You Had a Sports Concussion?

Share your story. What caused your concussion? What were your symptoms? Have you recovered fully? Could you have done anything to prevent your head injury? Share your sports concussion story so other athletes can learn from your experience.

School

In basketball In gym class I was elbowed at the back of my head. People told me I hit the floor like a rock right on my head again. After a while with me not answering anyone someone helped me up but I was really wobbly. They told me to sit in the wheelchair but I refused. That was how out of it I was. I ended up in a wheelchair anyway and a grade 3 concussion that the ER told me. I still have headaches today but they aren't as bad as they were before. I didn't take it as seriously as I should have when it happened and it not helping me know. I don't remember any part of the accident or that day. I wish there was a way to get it back but I can't. Everyone needs to take concussions seriously and it will help the healing process in the end.

—Guest Alison

Cheer and Basketball injuries

My daughter had 3 concussions in her sports - cheer and basketball. the first two, i could not get a dr. to confirm that she needed to get out of sports. the final blow was from an elbow in basketball--that was IT. she had sensitivity to light and sound, was extremely exhausted and had short term memory loss for about 18 months. We are happy to say she is MOSTLY better. we are guessing that her memory is about 85% back although she has attention issues still. WOW!! What a horrible situation. Head injuries MUST be taken seriously. IMPACT testing should be required before a child plays in sports at all. She is 17 - looking at colleges, and playing golf. Concerned about college and her making it thru the tuff classes!!

—Guest Worried

it finally makes sense

I was always active in sports as a child and have had multiple sever concussions. I've blacked out a total of 5 times due to sports concussions and I've had many numerous mild concussions that went untreated. My parents were the "rub dirt on it and you will be ok" kind. The only times I got treated was when I was knocked out. My first serious concussion was at age 10 and my last was at age 19. I'm in my mid 20s now and have problems focusing. I sometimes have trouble forming words, I have poor memory and get easily depressed. My temper can get out of control and I have trouble with lying. Migraines have plagued me as well. After reading up on the long term problems with concussions I wonder if all those blows to the head are the reason. Looking back I wish I would have taken head injuries more serious and given my brain time to heal instead of being so eager to get back on the field. Concussions are serious stuff!

—Guest becky

Soccer and Little Sister

I am 17 and have had 4 concussions that i can remember. At 12 my sister was angry with me and threw a full frebreze can HARD at my head when i wasn't looking. I got up to chase her and blacked out. The next year i got kicked in the head in my soccer game and blacked out again. That time i went to the doctors and had recurring headaches for about 2 months. Last year a player on the other team head butted me on the forehead as i was turning. It was extemely painful and i was dizzy and had trouble focusing my eyes. Today at practice i got hit in the back of the head with the soccer ball. I felt dizzy and sick to my stomach. Now im jus in pain and feel drained. I feel like its easier for me to get concussions now because getting kicked in the head with a ball didn't used to hurt. I am scared that i may have affected my brain and might have memory loss or something.

—Guest Kelley

Softball

I was playing softball at the time of the injury. When I was pitching it started to drizzle. Though it wasn't hard it affected the person with the bat. When she swung the bat she let go coming and hitting me in the side of the head knocking me out and giving me a concussion. I was out for like 20 seconds people said and when I woke up I tried to get up but fell back down to the ground so they called an ambulance. I haven't had severe repercussions from it but doctors say that the reason my second concussion was bad was because of the baseball bat.

—Guest Alice

Stupid gym class

I've had two bad concussion with both sending me to the hospital. I first one when I was 13 in 7 grade. While in gym someone threw a basketball made to go across the full length of the gym but smash straight into the back of my head making me fly forward and hit me for on the hard basketball gym flooring. Friends said I was out before I hit the ground and was out for almost ten minutes. I spent the next 3 days in a hospital bed. The second one was when I climbed up a rock wall that you only use your hands. I was up to the top around 18 ft. and to get down you jump. I jumped and the mat slipped out from me and landed on the back of my head knocking me out cold for more than 25 minutes and landing me in the hospital again for 5 days. The repercussions is severe memory loss.

—Guest Cody

7th concussion at age 17

I've had seven major concussions at only age 17 now. Im one of those guys who was hyper as a kid, took maximum risks and is now paying the price. I just got my seventh concussion one month after my 6th one and i now have impaired leg movement (cannot kick a soccer ball like i used to). I slur my words at times and mix them together. I forget alot of things and am very angry and irritable. I've had to give up every sport i loved except for the gym and I'monly 17. Now I'm worried about what im going to be like at 40 or even 50. Take life as a precious time and dont be that crazy guy that does everything that people think is nuts. Im sneaking this in on my laptop even though im not cleared by my doctor for any electronics or academic stimulation. Take warning if your reading this after your first concussion, your life is so precious. Dont waste it!

—Guest Riley Allan

Collision with 40km/h

I'm from Germany, riding my mountain bike along a bike path w/5% downward grade angle, a car cut me off & I collided w/front tire, smashing windshield with head & elbow, lost consciousness, catapulted over the car's roof...waking up 7 days later at the ICU. Ended up w/2nd Grade Head Concussion, multiple face fractures & other injuries. The 1st 4 months I really do not remember at all. My helmet was broken at the right frontal part. It was 50/50, either being 6ft under or wheelchair bound. I was given a 2nd chance! Not wearing a helmet is just a lame excuse, but waking up w/a numb body & impaired speech is not. I only can protect myself, still it's not a guarantee, as I found out I got lucky, only having broken my lower back w/no nerve injury, yet having several fractures in my lower jaw w/brain concussion that's even after over 4 yrs is still affecting me. Life is precious, don't waste it by ignoring your own personal most precious...yourself

—Guest Ralf

4 Concussions

I've had 4 concussions, once from wrestling, one from a car accident, once from a dirtbike accident, my last concussion was from snowboarding, and now I have short term memory, and trouble focussing. I didn't get knocked out in any of these events, but they can still cause brain damage. It's scary really. Get yourself checked out. I didn't get myself checked out for three of these concussions, but I should have.

—Guest nicole

My head hurts.

I am 18 and have had 4 documented concussions from high level hockey in a span of about 6 years I had another one by the time I stopped playin but didn't say anything because I would have been forced to stop playing, and another 2 after that non-sports related. I had an MRI last spring the doctors said they found nothing, I don't really believe it. I have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, waking up. If I get hit in the head I get the most blinding intolerable unexplainable pain I have ever felt - it lasts for a minute or too. It's hard to focus when I try to read or do homework . I have anger and irritation problems. I feel slower and dumber than I used to be and my short time memory... let's just say its not even there. So if you have a concussion get it looked after.

—Guest #6

17 year old with over 8 concussions

I am a 17 year old boy and I have been playing football and hockey at completive levels. In a 4 year spand I have suffered 8 documented concussions and probably more that -- never went to see a doctor. I had to give up everything I knew about, which evolved around hockey And football, I went into a slippery slope, losing weight, depressed to the max, not eating and I was only 16 at this time. In highschool it's a party and when I suffered these concussions I didn't sit at home and properly rest, my parents wouldn't let me, so since I was depressed and had nothing to look foward to, I would go out and party and drink and make things even worse. I will never be the same, I'm having terrible problems falling to sleep and getting up in the morning, Its hard to read and drive and my life has just began, That's my story hope you all can learn from my mistakes and not do what I did.

—Guest Mak

one time hit

When I was about 11, I was in goal and one of my defenders headed the ball straight up and I went for the ball and the next thing I know I'm on the ground, my hands on my face. I don't remember the rest, but according to my mom, I didn't move for about 5 minutes and I stayed in the game. I'm pretty sure I had a concussion.

—Guest soccer keeper

Multiple Concussions

I had several concussions in high school, from ice hockey and football contact. Two in one practice session in football, and at least two or three others in games. Major concussion (hospitalized for three days) at 19 from hockey. Didn't play for 30 days due to headaches, memory problems. I'm not sure what the total effect was at the time but I am feel it has had an impact on cognitive functioning such as organization, focus and memory. Now at 56 I am am very concerned about what the future will bring.

—Guest Rob

life is a mess

I had 4 concussions, mostly blind sided hits playing hockey...(i think) between the ages of 15 a 17. all were pretty bad, im 26 now, an looking back, it almost seems as if i stopped developing mentally, like progress just kinda..stopped, before it was complete. my life has been a mess ever since. I lost focus, dicipline, Its like things got scrambled up... bad, an since i couldnt figure out how to get back on track. things have only gotten worse. My life sucks. an I know its in relation to my head injurys. I wanna go back to who i was before!

—Guest matt2525

didn't put two and two together

When I was 2 I fell out of a tree, at 4 I was jumping on the bed with someone and we hit heads, both getting knocked out. At 11 I hit my head on the GYM concrete floor and I'm surprised I didn't get knocked out it hit so hard. Around a year after that I was kicked in the head by a horse sending me to the ER for stitches. The horse incident was the only time I went to the DR for a head injury and I think since finding this thread, I've never really thought about how many times I've had a head injury. Around 10 is when I first started feeling depressed and I believe it coincides with the Gym floor incident but I just never put two and two together. I have problems sometimes with not being able to find words during normal conversations and other times I don't. I've always had reoccurring headaches but for some reason after the epidural with my second child they became massive. Had a headache for 15 mos straight til a neurologist did a block lasting a week. I don't know what else to do.

—Guest karmaq