Question about concussions

Joe -

Glad you're okay! I'm not a concussion expert - but sounds like you may have suffered a mild concussion. Do you still have any headaches? I would be extra careful racing this weekend.

About the helmet - Even though you had on a new helmet - take out the liner and inspect the white foam. Red (my fiancé) suffered a little more serious concussion (blacked out for 15-20 mins) earlier this year and when we looked at his helmet - the foam where he impacted the ground was flattened and very damaged - although the outside shell of the helmet looked fine. After a really hard hit - you really shouldn't use the helmet any more (ther were a few threads on this a few months back).

And about your neck being sore - I have to plug PCS here. They make a neck support system that attaches to your chest protector and it is very comfortable to wear but offers great protection. You really don't notice it at all when riding - unless you crash :) They are popping up all over at the tracks around here. Check it out at www.promotorcyclesafety.com

Thanks for that link Niki. I've been wondering if somebody made something like this.

Originally posted by MXP1MP
I'll pull my helmet apart tonight I don't think it was damnaged but to be safe i'll check. Man I really don't want to buy a new helmet I just got this one last week i've worn it twice now.

Click to expand...

You should send it to the manufacturer for review, you might not be able to see the damage yourself. What material was the floow made of? There is a very good possibility that the helmet did its job and it's now time to get a new one.

I gave myself a mild concussion the other weekend. I hit the ground in 3rd gear with the left side of my face . The helmet does not have any padding like the rest of the helmet does. I remember hitting the ground and the sound of the helmet then everything went black and it was very quiet. The next thing that I remember was my head being hit by something and I then could
hear ( but no vision yet) and I tried to get up but I was then hit again in the mid section. This knocked the wind out of me and I then heard someone yelling and some other person told me to lay back down. I still couldn't see anything yet but I did a few seconds later as I rolled over in an attempt to breath. I was hit by two other riders . That sure made me sore, for a week!!
I had a headache for the rest of the day and was a black mood.
the following weekend I ran into the largest fir tree in the Tahoe National Forest and this time I had to tuck my head and hit it dead-on!! I didn't back out but I had a head ache for a while. This one kinda scared me actually I couldn't get around it.
I'm a little gun shy since the last header. I threw the helmet away and bought a new one.
I hate these impacts to the head......not fun!!

i have had a few concussions with different severities and problems each time. the first time was when i endo'd on my 80, i remember hitting the ground with my head, and the next thing i remember is comming to with guys pulling my bike off of me yelling "ARE YOU OK? ARE YOU OK?" i tried to ride more after that but the headache was too severe, and lasted for several days. the next one i got was on my 125, at my friends track there is a long 4th gear tapped straightaway which drops into a little ditch and then you jump back out...and the section is followed by a sharp right hand turn which overshot, results in dropping of a nice cliff...only 20 or so feet high, but theres a big shed and a lot of chunks of concrete at the bottom. anyways my back end got kicked up and i was riding a nose wheelie towards the cliff, panicked a litle and grabbed to much front brake. the front end tucked under and i went down hard, tearing the PCL in my right knee and hitting my head pretty hard. my head felt ok at first but within a few hours i had a bad headache and completely lost vision out of my left eye. came back after a couple days, and the ehadache came back every time i rode for close to a month. the latest concussion was at my last race...i endo'd through a whoop section, bike drilled me into the ground and another guy landed on me. i dont remember anything of that except starting to go over, a bright flash, and then getting up and seeing my bike piled up with another and the other rider standing next to me waiving riders to the side. i got up and couldnt breath, couldnt see too straight either...tried to pick up my bike and realized my collarbone was broken...then i collapsed again and woke up to a couple paramedics. my pupils were really dialated and the doctors said i had a concussion, but i didnt have too bad of a headache or anything....the latter of the crashes was one of the first rides on my new moto7...the impact was hard enough to crack the visor and make the paint start chipping but i dont have the money to get a new helmet so i hope its fine...i'm gonna take it with me the next time i get my collarbone xrayed because if you xray it you can check for stress cracks and what not, or so ive heard.

I got a concussiona few months ago in my back
yard on my 45 foot freestyle double. I actually
dont remember going up to the jump or the crash
itsself. All i remember is waking up not
knowing what was going on and
seeing solid red for about 20 seconds,
then my friend asking me if
I was ok. It was kind of nice having that
happen because I didnt remember the pain
of hitting the ground. My friend said right
when I left the lip my front tire droped so
the bike was almost vertical.
I landed like that and went over the bars and
hit the back of my head. you could see the
imprint of the back of my head on the inside of the helmet
One of my worst crashes and
The only pain I felt was a headach:think

Seems common

That seems common...

When my friend came-to, he could only tell us what happened after he "woke up". The entire day of riding was gone to him (which is a shame, because we had one of the best days I can remember).

jimt, that wasn't what I would call a "mild" concussion the way you descibed it!

from what I have experienced and read, each time you get a concussion, you develope a "sensitivity" to getting another one more easilly. Maybe it depends if they are in the same area, not sure. The worst one I got took away much of my long term memory for almost two weeks...not fun calling your best friends "hey you".

Just an idea, couldn't a person measure the thickness of the helmet foam by inserting a thin piece of wire in various areas and measuring? Like a tread depth measurement on a tire...

I would just like some opinions about this...
Monday last my brother rode his bike up the field to wash it, wearing no helmet because he was only riding 100 meters or so and very slowly. Unfortunately the field was icy and the bike slipped down the field and hit the side of a barn with him hitting the side of his face off the concrete wall. He stood up after a minute, no black out and felt a little dizzy and he had a bad head ache, after about 2 minutes he lost all memory for the last three weeks, completely forgetting Christmas and why he was not in college. His short term memory was also "switched off". About 36 hours later his short term memory "switched back on again" and some of the last 3 weeks came back. Now(friday) he can remember most of the three weeks but he seems to only remember things if you mention something related to the memory, he still has a mild head ache. He went to the doctor and he recokoned he should take it easy for a couple of weeks and keep an eye on it, although having heard that he was having trouble remembering some stuff now he said no riding for 3 months.
So I just wanted to know peoples opinions on how serious a concussion this was and whether it is really sensible to race MX or even ride at all again.

Thanks for any help,
(Do we have any neurologists or doctors here on DRN, there seems to be someone from almost every other profession!)