# I hit my head hard: Helmet Question



## skipmann (Jan 2, 2009)

I suggest you go to the nearest emergency room to get yourself checked out, immediately.


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## Guest (Feb 16, 2009)

Concussion e.g. your head didn't carry on the force and you got something similar to whiplash(car crash). that's what i'm guessing


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## DragonXero13 (Oct 27, 2008)

If there was any force, it would have been to my occipital lobe .. I don't have a headache as of right now .. Well .. maybe a VERY minor one .. on a scale of 1-10 .. It's a 1.


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## Perpetual3am (Nov 19, 2007)

Why ask a question like that on here when they're doctors who do this thing for a living? Go to the hospital.


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## hoboken (Mar 13, 2008)

I also think you should go to the hospital and get checked out ASAP.


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## Dawg Catcher (Jan 5, 2009)

eh just browse WebMD im sure you'll be fine


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## MunkySpunk (Jan 7, 2009)

DragonXero13 said:


> So I was cruising down the mountain, all of a sudden something throws me off balance for some reason. I get tossed around and I don't know what is really happening. Than as out of nowhere, I slam the back of my head into the ground and I look up and all I see is black, I might have lost vision or my vision was blurry, I was night riding btw. I laid there thinking, "Oh my god." I laid there and all of a sudden, a rush of pain surged from the back of my head all the way to the top. I laid there with my brother and a random rider asking if I was okay. I slowly stood up and said yes and rode down the mountain. As I road down the mountain, it just seemed as if I was a new rider again .. wobbling, carving the wrong way .. etc.
> 
> I went back to the car, took off my gear .. and kissed my Giro Omen.. What I'm wondering is if you guys think I sustained any damage or anything? I still have a headache and took 2 Aleve pain killers after all that .. It's been 5 hours and I still have a minor headache.


You most likely just got a severe concussion (your brain, made almost entirely of fat, smooshed and bounced around inside your skull). 

You went blind for a second because the visual processing center of your brain is in the visual cortex in the occipital lobe, right where you hit. You lost your balance because of one or more of three things: You rang your inner ear really hard and had no real functioning balance center for a short while (kind of like getting dizzy), read up on the vestibular organ for details. You could also have damaged your cerebellum which is right below the visual cortex, also right where you hit. The cerebellum is reponsible for second-nature reflexes. It's what you develop when you practice-practice-practice and why you don't have to conciously think about linking a turn or that gymnast can tumble without thinking. And then there's just the uneasiness factor that may come into play. You rang your bell.. hard. When you couldn't see anything, you probably panicked and were shaking like a leaf. I'd be pretty wobbly too.

Right now your brain is probably bruised and could use a few weeks to heal. If you were to hit it again before it healed, then you're at risk for some serious damage. I'm not kidding about this - your brain is an organ, it can get damaged, and it takes time to heal it like any other injury. If you weren't wearing a helmet, this might have been much, much worse.

But the folks here are right, don't screw around on WebMD with this, go see a Doc. He'll probably tell you the exact same thing I just did, but I'm not an MD, I don't have your skull here in my lap, and I've got no real experience with these matters.

EDIT: And you may have damaged your frontal lobe in a secondary impact when your brain bounced off the back of your skull and slammed into the front of your skull. That's the part of the brain that makes you who you are and all of us human (some moreso than others. )


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## Guest (Feb 16, 2009)

If you have headaches n stuff get it checked out i guess.. I have a bern helmet and I have slammed my head many times super hard off kickers and such... I have never really gotten dizzy or anything from it... It hurts a bit but my helmet has done a good job of protecting my head.


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## Enigmatic (Feb 6, 2009)

take off the pads on the inside of your helmet and examine the impact zone. Its probably alright.

Did you throw up any time after you fell?


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## latemp (Apr 6, 2008)

yea you need to go to the hospital man. i had the same thing happen to me, except mine was not as bad as yours. didnt loose any sight or anything and when i went they still said i had a mild concussion. i wasnt wearing a helmet, but helmet or not, if you had a concussion you could have swelling in your had which can be bad news. they will probably give you something to make the swelling go down or stop if there is any.


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## DragonXero13 (Oct 27, 2008)

Thanks for the advice everyone. 

No, I don't have any vommitting occuring .. My headache lasted till noon today but I fgeel better .. I think I'm going to take some time off of boarding to let it heal if there's any damage..


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## Mooz (Aug 14, 2007)

I like how some people are going the extreme on this "zomg go to the hospital you might be dead!"

Snowboard helmets don't protect against concussions. They give you an ultra tiny layer of extra cushion for smackage but more importantly they keep you from busting your skull open and bleeding all over creation. Smack you noggin good enough and you will get a concussion. Which is probably what you have, a minor concussion. It doesn't warrant a trip to the ER but a visit to your regular doc won't hurt. One he call tell you how severe or mild it was and test to make sure your mushy grey is still all in the right place. Given your symptoms, it's a pretty fair bet that it's just a very mild concussion. Still have your doc follow up and be sure.

And yes, helmets rock.


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## squishydonut (Nov 13, 2007)

anyone have a similar experience where the headache lasted for a few weeks?


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## legallyillegal (Oct 6, 2008)

people need to stop going to the ER for every little cough they get


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## Igor700 (10 mo ago)

skipmann said:


> I suggest you go to the nearest emergency room to get yourself checked out, immediately.


Unnecessary, it's the same as in boxing, if you get punched hard your vision blacks out for a second. It's not good though, try to avoid it. But a couple slams like this won't lead to anything bad.


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## WigMar (Mar 17, 2019)

Beautiful. Way to bring back the dead with some excellent medical advise.


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## Oldman (Mar 7, 2012)

Igor700 said:


> Unnecessary, it's the same as in boxing, if you get punched hard your vision blacks out for a second. It's not good though, try to avoid it. But a couple slams like this won't lead to anything bad.


Is it possible to ban someone who posts such dangerous content? This is medical spam at its absolute worst !


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## Donutz (May 12, 2010)

Oldman said:


> Is it possible to ban someone who posts such dangerous content? This is medical spam at its absolute worst !


Much better for other members to lambaste them. That way lurkers see the debate.

Anyway, this looks like an edit spammer. Will probably be gone in 24 hours anyway.


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