bonk
March 14, 2023 10:45 AM Subscribe
I'm clumsy and poorly-sized for my environment and as a result, I hit my head kind of a lot. Never hard enough to knock myself out but sometimes hard enough to hurt a long time, or leave a knot. Purely out of medical curiosity, and because I'm currently sitting under an ice pack after whacking my head on the desk YET AGAIN while plugging in a charger -- how bad is this for me, short or long-term?
I'm 6'1" and kind of gangly, so I feel your (literal) pain. I don't know why I keep hitting my head and not anything else, but assume it's from living in a world designed for the 'average' sized human (ie a person not the same size as any living human).
Unless it's something severe, your head is pretty well-equipped for protecting your brain from shocks and bumping your head is nothing like dropping on the ground head-first with all the weight of your body behind it, which is the sort of impact being associated more and more with long-term effects from cumulative brain injury.
posted by dg at 2:15 PM on March 14, 2023
Unless it's something severe, your head is pretty well-equipped for protecting your brain from shocks and bumping your head is nothing like dropping on the ground head-first with all the weight of your body behind it, which is the sort of impact being associated more and more with long-term effects from cumulative brain injury.
posted by dg at 2:15 PM on March 14, 2023
Do you ever have concussion symptoms?
If not, there's little risk. If you do, the most important thing is that you do not get a second concussion before symptoms of the first have resolved. A concussion on its own, or even multiple concussions over the course of your life, are vastly less likely to cause significant damage than two concussions in close succession--which happens to many athletes because they're pushed back into the game before they've fully recovered.
Generally when I get these kind of whacks I don't have concussion symptoms. The times I've had concussions are when I tripped and hit my head on something because I couldn't catch myself in time--so, full weight on my head. Hitting the desk, cabinet door, doorframe, kitchen table corner, chair leg, etc... I've never had those result in concussion symptoms, so I don't worry. But if you do have a bonk that results in those symptoms, be extra super careful for the next few weeks, just in case.
posted by brook horse at 6:16 PM on March 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
If not, there's little risk. If you do, the most important thing is that you do not get a second concussion before symptoms of the first have resolved. A concussion on its own, or even multiple concussions over the course of your life, are vastly less likely to cause significant damage than two concussions in close succession--which happens to many athletes because they're pushed back into the game before they've fully recovered.
Generally when I get these kind of whacks I don't have concussion symptoms. The times I've had concussions are when I tripped and hit my head on something because I couldn't catch myself in time--so, full weight on my head. Hitting the desk, cabinet door, doorframe, kitchen table corner, chair leg, etc... I've never had those result in concussion symptoms, so I don't worry. But if you do have a bonk that results in those symptoms, be extra super careful for the next few weeks, just in case.
posted by brook horse at 6:16 PM on March 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
My husband has had multiple concussions. My understanding is that each concussion makes it easier to get the next concussion. He now wears a hat with a bump cap lining during most of his waking hours and it has definitely mitigated a few impacts. If you hit your head a lot then I strongly recommend you make a habit of wearing one too. You really don't want to go any farther down this path.
posted by Jacqueline at 6:58 PM on March 14, 2023
posted by Jacqueline at 6:58 PM on March 14, 2023
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All this to say he is 88 and still bright and engaged and not showing signs of any significant deterioration apart from a bit of (age related) memory fog. This is just one set of very personal and non-medical anecdata, and repeated blows to the head are obviously never going to be a good thing, but the sort of everyday lumps and bumps you refer to haven't affected him and he's had plenty of them.
posted by Martha My Dear Prudence at 12:35 PM on March 14, 2023 [3 favorites]