How many concussions have you suffered?

[skategoat]

Me - about 5 or 6. My memory is a bit fuzzy on the exact number <G>. My first one was in a high school football game. The coach sat me out for a quarter and sent me out again after my head "cleared". I can't remember a thing about that day. That's how ignorant we were about brain injuries 30 years ago.

Most recently, a crash two seasons ago. I didn't even lose consciousness but I knew I had a problem when I couldn't remember how I got to the hill that day.

With all the news coming out about the long term effect of brain injuries, at what point do you say enough and give up risky sports like snowboarding?

[Trenchman]

Good question...I forgot.

I had a major concussion 9 years ago, I fell 9' to concrete head first.

I am sure I have had at least a couple more but my short term memory never fully recovered from the big 1, or at least that is what I keep telling people.

[BadBrad]

I had one when I was small kid due to a bicycle wreck. I only remembered waking up in the hospital.

I had one while snowboarding a year ago. I got knocked unconscious, I think it was just briefly. When I came to I temporarily lost some short-term memory. I knew where I was but couldn't remember where I was staying or where my wife was. I made my way down the hill to the lodge and took a break to make sure everything was okay. Most of my memory came back and I continued riding the rest of the day, but I still don't remember the first half of that run or the crash itself. The next morning I had a very bad headache and was throwing up so I went to the emergency room. A CT scan showed no severe swelling. Thankfully I was wearing a helmet or it probably would have been worse.

[Hans]

When a straightline skier catched my left tail when I was going fast too, a few years ago. I think I went through the air about 6 or 7 meters before my head touched the icy surface at first. Luckily I was wearing a Dainese helmet. The next day I was still dizzy and was a little sickening/nauseous.

I never saw the skier again. Glad I was wearing a helmet then, lifesaver.

[b0ardski]

Good question...I forgot.

I had a major concussion 9 years ago, I fell 9' to concrete head first.

I am sure I have had at least a couple more but my short term memory never fully recovered from the big 1, or at least that is what I keep telling people.

I knew I had an excuse but I couldn't remember:freak3:

20 + years since I had a serious hit. 1 of 2 was learning to ride fakie at snoqualmie pass on a hard(not quite boilerplate) day, caught the heelside edge to brainstem plant. Was out for I think just a couple of seconds, left a ceral bowl sized hole in the hardpack.

2nd was stepping thru an unbuilt stairwell to the basement floor while working with an uncle. That one sloshed my brain, knocked me out and made me pretty loopy for a day or so.

I got a bucket this year, after 26 years of ski bumming, a collision with a fellow carver scared me into it:smashfrea

[Spiny Norman]

'leventeen

[Gecko]

none, but then I have worn a helmet for +30 years

[bobdea]

maybe more.

so weird how certain things you can't remember about that day and the things you find perplexing that should not after a good smack.

one time I was looking for my smokes and it dawned on me that I had quit a few months prior.

another I smacked my head on the way to go eat lunch with some guys and after we were talking about the bill and really simple math was over my head and confusing as hell.

[skategoat]

none, but then I have worn a helmet for +30 years

Helmets actually have little to do with preventing concussions. This is what my research tells me. Concussions are caused by sudden deceleration and a helmet does almost nothing there. This is about hockey but I'm sure the same reasoning applies to snowboarding:

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/ourgame/goalsassists/asktheexperts/story/2009/03/30/sp-qanda-helmet.html

[carvedog]

Been knocked out a few times. Twice as a kid around horses and another running into a swing set a frame playing dodgeball. That one made me sick.

Hit a tree hard enough with my head to call ski patrol in CB. Someone did, not me. And that was mostly for the blood. Mild concussion there. Dumb one too. It was on a traverse from one run to another and you had to duck a bit to get under this big tree branch. Welll.....it kept snowing until there wasn't room apparently, because I got real low and still didn't clear. Kind of funny if it hadn't ruined my day.

Then one time clipped from behind ( with helmet ) very hard. Not sure if the nausea was from the flips and spins but it definitely rung my bell.

Not going to quit until I get too loopy to find my gear and .......what was the other thing? Oh yeah, my ski pass.

[scrapster]

Only once that I can remember (yes, that's the running joke...)

Was about 12 years old playing baseball with a friend. I was catching, he was batting. He took a step backward instead of forward when he swung. (I can still hear what sounds like Big Ben ringing in my ears when I think about it .)

[Kex]

just one. was riding back home from campus (less than a mile's bikeride). my bikes rear brake line snapped and i had to use my front brakes at the bottom of a steep hill. the wheel locked up and threw me over the handlebars. i (apparently) hit my head and I wasn't wearing a helmet, because it was such a short ride to campus. needless to say I always wear one now though.

[pebu]

If I've ever had a concusion it was a very mild one. I'd say the closest was snowboarding at school (college). Softboots. Took a jump with a bad take-off (the jump sucked, not me). Kicked my board out behind me, landed on my chin. It definately rung my bell. I was able to do a crab-like move to get down the hill (sliding down on my heelside with my ass close to the ground and hands walking myself down). That was the most out of it I've ever been. I've always been able to get back up and ride down, even if it was just go to hang out in the lodge for a while.

[Gecko]

Helmets actually have little to do with preventing concussions. This is what my research tells me. Concussions are caused by sudden deceleration and a helmet does almost nothing there. This is about hockey but I'm sure the same reasoning applies to snowboarding:

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/ourgame/goalsassists/asktheexperts/story/2009/03/30/sp-qanda-helmet.html

well I have had numerous bicycle, skateboard. snowboard and motorcycle get offs....shattered 2 motorcycle helmets, destroyed a few bike helmets and been through countless skate helmets been to the ER a number of times for other bail related issues, 0 concussions. The thing that helmet research never tells you are the number of helmets that have died the good fight so that your head isn't a shattered pumpkin. I mean seriously are you going to go someplace and report that you didn't get an injury? no you buy a new helmet and move on with your life. One thing for certain a concussion would have been one of a number of "problems" I would have had had I not been wearing a helmet

edit: most hockey helmets are similar to 2 stage skateboard helmets, hard shell lined with soft easily compressed foam....made for repeated impacts of a minor nature....compared to motorcycle, snowboard and bicycle helmets which are designed to protect against a big impact.

[egibbons]

This topic hits home for me. I have written about my TBI countless times, so I am going to just copy the text from my Goldwater Scholarship essay over. Sorry if it is sappy, I had to jazz it up to get out some good emotions.:)

In high school, things always came easily to me. I was ranked number one in my class of 728 with a 4.0 GPA. I earned perfect scores on my AP tests. I had a perfect score on the ACT and SAT II math sections. I had ambitious goals, and I felt like I had the talent and drive to realize them. That all changed the last week of my junior year in high school when a water-ski struck my head in a violent fall, crushing my skull, lacerating my brain underneath. After waking from brain surgery and skull reconstruction, I found myself in a foggy and frightening new world. I could not speak. I could not write. I could not think. A diagnostic evaluation revealed that my cognitive and reasoning skills were diminished to the level of the bottom 3% of the general population. Whether from fear or tenacity, I refused to accept the reality of this diagnosis. That summer, I spent my time revisiting my old math notes, re-reading simple children’s novels, and re-learning how to write and speak. And the unexplainable happened. I recovered. In six months, I was back in school, once again performing at the top of my class. My doctors and therapists had no explanation as to why I was fully functional when most people who suffer from a traumatic brain injury never recover. For them, my recovery was as much a freak accident as my original injury. (end essay portion)

Months later I could read and write with the best of them. In fact, I got into MIT for undergrad nearly six months to the day of my cognitive diagnosis. Couldn't come up with the $200k they wanted for tuition and whatnot, but still is a testament of the turnaround.

Six years later I am still fine. I have no memory loss of cognitive problems. In fact, in keeping with some Utah culture, I spent a couple of years in Taiwan and I am fluent (well, as much as a white guy ever gets, and having two years of not speaking it has understandably degraded) in Mandarin Chinese.

Oh, and I was back on a waterski three weeks after the accident. I just went and bought a kayaking helmet.

I also have pictures of my brain and my reconstructed skull if anyone is morbid enough to want to see them.

[KingCrimson]

Suffered? None.

I HAVE thoroughly enjoyed two of them..I think.

Both football related.

[MR. JOHN DEERE !]

5 documented head injuries from 95-98 major junior hockey

2 documented head injuries from 98-02 hockey east

1 documented real bad one in 02 hamilton bulldogs training camp, career ender.

1 snowboard racing in 04

1 putting a hydraulic breaker on a komatsu pc600 1/4/2010

:lol: so 10 documented concusions total.

[Jim]

One serious one that landed me 3 days in the hospital with a complimentary brain scan, and a handful of others. Finally got a helmet in 2000. How would you rate being knocked out without a concussion?

[eajracing]

1 biking

2 playing hockey

at least 4 snowboarding. first one was a doozy and i've been wearing a helmet since.

to the best of my recollection...

[BobD]

First question I think about as I regain my senses - is this worthy of the co-pay on an CT scan ? It's the first thing they do for a suspected concussion these days.

BobD

[skategoat]

egibbons: I would rate that a tad more serious than a concussion. I'm worried about hidden brain damage that might manifest itself in later years. Wonderful recovery story though.

john deere: That's some major head trauma. Kinda sad that it goes along with a hockey career. Here's a list from 2007 of NHLers who had to retire due to concussion: http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/287833 The saddest for me are Lafontaine and Steve Rucchin.

All: Carving is a great feeling but not knowing where you left your car or even what kind of car you drive is not good. I had a little scare on the first run of the season when I stuffed the nose in soft snow, went over the handlebars and slammed the back of my head on hard snow. It definitely rattled my brain a little bit. I'm starting to wonder if it's worth it.

[skategoat]

Oh man, I hope I did not jinx Kevin Pearce with this thread.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/05/sports/olympics/05pearce.html

[NateW]

1. 14-15 years old, skateboarding, wood halfpipe, hit my head on the flatbottom, dizzy for a few minutes but no big deal. Don't remember if I was wearing a helmet back then.

2. 18 years old, my second time on campus ever, had just dropped off a carload of stuff at my dorm, was driving toward town to get some food when my girlfriend said something about a stop sign. And then there was this guy leaning over me with a clipboard asking if I knew my name, knew where I was, etc. My parents were already there, and it was a 90 minute drive for them to get there. I'd run a stop sign and been t-boned by a VW bus on a street with a 35 mph limit. No helmet, naturally.

I was moderately retarded for a couple/few weeks. I remember constantly feeling like I had just woken up, an hour too soon. Doctors said I might get better, might not. I did.

3. Around 25-30 years old, terrain park at Snoqualmie Central, icy. I stopped above a jump and was wondered if I should go for a 360, or just a 180, and then I was lying on my back taking inventory.

Wiggle fingers? Check. Wiggle toes? Check. Move head a little bit? Check. Move arms? Legs? Move head more? Etc, etc. All systems go.

Rode to the bottom of the lift, realized I didn't know what day it was. Wait, it's Wednesday, shouldn't I be at work? I should call... no, wait. I have a concussion! Went to the lodge to get some food and see if my head would clear. Walking through the lodge I crossed paths with a guy whose eyes got HUGE.

"DUDE, ARE YOU OK?????"

"I've been better."

"I saw that 360 man, that was BRUTAL."

So, apparently I went for the 360.

Without the helmet I'd have been crippled. No doubt. Maybe killed. I wasn't really in the habit of wearing a helmet at the time, but I've been pretty religious about it ever since.

[leeho730]

I fell off from a two story building, head down when I was 10. Fortunately there was no crack in the skull but I was sick for 3 weeks. My parents swear I was never the same after the fall.

Then I started playing rugby and snowboarding, so naturally I've lost count....

[Dave ESPI]

I've only had 3 that I can remember...... (hurrr hurrrr hurrr)

There were a few when I was first starting to snowboard (back before helmets were not a rarity), but the worst was in 2002. I was racing gates @ Okemo and clipped my heelside edge and had a superslam @ around 45mph. I "bounced" off the boilerplate and hit my head sohard on a rock that was exposed that I split my helmet in half. I lost involuntary control of a few functionns momentarily and lets say "made a mess" of my pants to avoid being gross, and when I woke up a few seconds later I rolled over with the worst hangover feeling ever! The odd thing, noone saw me go off the edge and slide under the race fence and when I was climbing out of the ditch, I was lucid, but obviously not "right". Ski patrol was alerted but I insisted on getting down the rest of the trail on my own. I was quite shaken up after it, and was not able to race for nearly 2 seasons, and did not return to OKEMO until last year. I have to say that going down the same trail and seeing the place where I lost it was one of the toughest things to do afterwards in retrospect. I was on hardboots last year when I went so it was a huge confidence booster when I ran it a few times and amped up each run faster than the last.

A big part of recovery is "mental"... just as much as the post- brain swelling of a concussion :)