#LoveYourBrain

[snwbrdr435]

Over the years I have had quite a few head injuries although I am lucky enough to not have had a Traumatic brain injury(TBI) yet and hope I never will. Smacking my head on most surfaces known to man in one way or another. Ice, Snow, Asphalt, Sand, Water, etc. When I was 11, I bent down to pick up something in our shed and my brother knocked a pry bar off the wall which then hit me in the back of the head. Concussion #1. Over the next 10 years I had a bunch of minor incidents, playing soccer and having someone knock their teeth out on the back of my head, skateboarding, wakeboarding, rock climbing and finally snowboarding. Snowboarding, if you haven't met me before, snowboarding is my life. I eat sleep ride and then repeat it all over again. I have bruised and cracked ribs, destroyed my shoulders and elbow, crushed my knuckles, and put my knee through my face. I Hit a tree going around 40mph which somehow I managed to walk away from with only an insanely bruised leg and extreme deep bone bruising that lasted over 6 months. Those all scare me less than the 3 broken/cracked helmets, the knee into my jaw and my favorite of the bunch, smashing my face and un-helmeted head on a sheet of ice doing a trick I had done a thousand times. I got "snaked" on the run into the jump causing me to scratch some of my speed and then proceeded to hit it anyways. I don't remember any of that day and the proceeding 24hours. I caught my toe edge on the landing and then smashed my face on ice never having a chance to brave for impact. My girlfriend at the time forced me to stay awake but I never went to the doctors. The next two both happened when I was wearing a helmet, on one I caught my heel edge on the landing of a jump getting whiplashed backwards and splitting my helmet open. The next happened in a halfpipe in Canada where I decked out smashed my face off my knee and then proceeded to fall backwards down to the bottom of the pipe (20'). I almost bit through my tongue, chipped multiple teeth and thought I had broken my jaw. I remember coming to, being yelled at in french with no idea where I was or how I got there. The dr. in good old canada said to just "take it easy" take a day of and relax. What a bunch of s***. If only I had know then what I know now... Since that last one I have been feeling different. Irritable, my sleep schedule has been a disaster, mood swings, loss of concentration at times, and my ability to balance was completely thrown off. I also noticed a slight decrease in my vision, things would be blurry at times and bright lights would give me screaming headaches. Sometimes I find myself stumbling with pronunciation and can't seem to say what I want. Interacting with people and speaking about my feelings was/is impossible. I can't seem to ever be able to express my thoughts and feelings unless I write them down. There are times where I just can't say what I want and saying things completely different than I intend. I also find myself acting in ways that make absolutely no sense to me. Finally the most major change was how apathetic I had become, which in turn coupled with the other issues has pushed some very important people out of my life. I never put two and two together until a few weeks ago when I really started reading into TBI's and I watched Kevin Pearce's HBO documentary Crash Reel. Even though I have never had a major TBI, everything builds up over time and the more hits your brain takes the more susceptible you become. It can also take years to "recover" from a head injury. Bright lights, loud sounds, stress, other impacts to name a few all play a factor on how your body will recover. The infographic below was spot on, I almost feel relieved that this has all been caused by something and its not just me. So if you do hit your head please go get it checked! You only have one brain and it can't be replaced.


www.thecrashreel.com/

[WDRacing]

Head injuries are nothing to mess with. Thanks for posting your story dude.

[dre1507]

That's why I've always been afraid of hitting my head. You might seem fine now, but every hit definitely adds to the toll.

[Bubba1]

Head injuries are nothing to mess with. Thanks for posting your story dude.

+1. The brain is most guys' second favorite organ. So one should take good care of it.

[WDRacing]

3rd for me, I have the usual #1, but I also have a close relationship with my liver

[krimsonviper]

Damn dude, you are built like a tank, but even those are useless when the guys inside die. What are you going to do about it, now that you know?

[snwbrdr435]

Damn dude, you are built like a tank, but even those are useless when the guys inside die. What are you going to do about it, now that you know?

Try not to hit my head!

Seriously, I will probably not be doing "freestyle" snowboarding anymore. I have found a new love for big mountain riding and that is intense and obviously dangerous as well but I feel like head impact risk is much lower. Not saying I wont be taking fun runs through the park anymore because I certainly will, but I will not be trying many of the tricks I used to do. The hardest part about this whole situation is the social factor for me since I have inadvertently put myself in some rather awful situations relationship wise etc all because I have a mental block when it comes to speaking what is really on my mind it is there but I can't articulate what I want to really say.

[krimsonviper]

Sounds like what I have, but I'm just a 'tard. Take it easy man. It's great living life, but if you can't do what you want to do, you might come across a block you can't get over.

[nissangirl74]

Have you had a MRI or a CAT scan? My neuro knowledge is fairly limited but I think it would be a benefit to find out more. Damage to certain areas is a lot more telling than others.

[dre1507]

I have a glasses-dependent friend who doesn't have a history of head injuries, but doctors have told him that if he should happen to get one, there's a high possibility he'll go blind.