Concussions

See any sharks?
Go see a doc

 

Don't go to sleep and if you puke stop drinking.
Heal up, surf on and wear your helmet

 

If you were slurring your words, that's pretty bad.

 

Here it is ... there is a process for recovery
1. no exercise type activity for 5 days.
2. after 5 days with no reoccurrence of nausea,headache, sensitivity to light and dizziness slowly get back to some light work outs.
3. After 3 days of light work outs and you still feel good , get back in the water.

your welcome.

 

You have come to the right place for medical advice. Anything with the neck or noggin should be looked at by a real doctor, just in case.

The worst dings I've gotten surfing have been in stomach high or less. Maybe pushing too hard, or not enough time to set up before pearling. Who knows?

If you feel bad tomorrow, get a scan. And don't do any more headers for a while. At least for a week or so.

 

You should seek medical advise.


Although swellinfo does offer sounds medical advise, we do not take liability for head/neck injuries.

We really specialize in treatment of bee stings or jelly fish stings. (Which we always suggest to pee on ones self- or have a friend pee on you).

We also treat minor illness and diaharreia

Please keep us in mind for all future medical advise.

 

We're pretty spot on with hangover cures ( hair of the dog ) too!

 

There is no cure for crusty.

 

.... It's always on the small waves....

 

If you suspect you have a concussion, see an MD....NOW> With concussions there may be other things brewing....ie, subdural hematoma, that is, bleeding under the skull, etc. Better to prevent than to remedy. Stop reading my post, and have someone take you for a check up.
NOW!!
or we will throw your belongings into the water.......

 

I would attribute you slurring your words to getting hit in the face so close to your mouth. I think you aight. But don't take my word for it.

 

I had that happen last winter, pulled into a small barrel, everything was fine, then wham, I was under water. Luckily I didn't get hit with anything though.

 

Last concussion I got surfing I also broke my jaw so the concussion was an afterthought but yeah you're concussed. Whiskey always helps me.

 

GO SEE A DOCTOR!! Head injuries no matter how little or major are no time to be a TOUGH GUY! There are many stages of a concussion that arent always told by whether you are dizzy, nauseous, blurry visioned or even a head ache. The fact that you had slurred speech should be a small indicator. Take it from someone who knows.... I was skiing about 4 years ago and I caught an edge, toppled into the woods and hit the back of my head on a tree stump.. dented my helmet which in itself tells you how hard I hit it. I was not knocked out but my neck felt a little weird. Told my wife to ski down with the kids and I skied the rest of the way down. Got into the lodge and had ski patrol check me out. Sent me to the hospital and I was diagnosed with a concussion. I thought it was B.S. until I went to my regular doctor the following monday and he put me through a couple of little tests and sent me to a neurologist... ha ha... I was pissed because I thought this was ridiculous, played football and hockey all my life and I KNOW what a concussion feels like and this is not it... Went to the Neurologist and he put me through some tests asking me questions.... lampshade, 5th park avenue, and his name were three things he said over and over again throughout my conversations with him and when he asked me to repeat the three things he asked me to remember throughout the conversation, I COULD NOT REMEMBER for the life of me. Especially the DR'S NAME and I am EXCELLENT with names! My wife and I could not believe it.. Long story short, I ended up missing 4 weeks of skiing and had to get scans on my head for 4 months... I was shocked because I told him I had concussions before and this didnt feel like it at all. He told me that there are alot of concussions that go undiagnosed and over time the injury from them can COMPOUND and cause more damage than you may think. Its like erosion of a beach, it can damage the brain over a long period of time or can damage it like a huge storm does, all depends on how many you get and how severe they are. Im 47 and I dont know how old you are but take my word for it, dont play around when it comes to your head... not the time to be a TOUGH GUY and shake it off with a few beers....also documenting it will help your doctor or neurologist in the future should you get another one...

 

Agree with all of the SI doctores & the sounde medical advise presented thereupon.

BTW, the whole concussion thing is interesting as it relates to surfing. It's not news that people have different tolerance levels / abilities to absorb / not absorb blows to the cranium. For example, a punch that hits one guy could create a concussion whereas another guy being hit with the same force won't sustain a concussion.

Nature's way of saying some people are MMA fighters and some people need to stick with chess tournaments.

In surfing, the same thing applies. Some people can take the pounding & not be concussed & some people can't. It's not one size fits all by any means. It's definitely not a measure of a person's toughness, either, as Toofun so well noted.

The effect of tons of ocean hitting athletes (aka surfers) in the head.....this seems to me to be way, way under-analyzed - - if it's even been analyzed at all?

From a personal standpoint, I've often felt a little 'out of it' after getting clobbered by waves. I've written it off to extreme fatigue from surfing hours in the ocean, dehydration & just extreme exertion. And, hey, I've competed in just about every contact sport & never had my bell wrung.

But, I continue to wonder what the effects are of the sheer force of tons of water slamming into my cranium, repeatedly, over a period of days, weeks, months & years.