September 18, 2020 is National Concussion Awareness Day. We wanted to share some important information from Jackie Bauer of Power Through the Fourth Whistle podcast.

At our first game of the 2018 season, the back of my helmet hit the floor and I was sidelined with a concussion. 

It can be so frustrating to set up your off season training so diligently, to come into the season with momentum ready to go, feeling better than ever ready to take on the world, and then a random event takes it away. The worst part is…it’s your brain. What can you really do without it?

The first three days were the worst of it with head and neck pain. I hid from all screens. I tried to sleep as much as possible. When the bulk of the pain was gone, I wanted to go on like normal and I set all screens to a lower brightness setting. I thought if I did easier cardio, not as much jumping, I’d be ok, right?

WRONG.

It turns out just because an exercise didn’t fit my personal definition of “strenuous” didn’t mean my brain agreed with me. As a result, it took longer to heal than it might have. It was so frustrating. I had trouble concentrating. Conversations were so difficult, I would just trail off searching for words…I hid how bad it was because I didn’t want to worry anyone. I kept showing up to social events because I didn’t want to let anyone down or feel left out, but the toll it took on me was tremendous. A weekend of talking to people would lead to an entire day spent in bed with the covers over my head.

People who haven’t had concussions before have asked what it’s like. It’s different for everyone. And every concussion is different. The easiest way to explain mine is that anything could end up feeling like too much. Too much screen time. Too much distraction. Too much interaction. Too much movement. Everyday was fuzzy around the edges and if I tried too hard to do things, it got worse and the only way back was to rest and take a break from it all. It’s an invisible injury and no one realizes how hard you are trying to keep it together and act normal and how exhausting that is.

My brain injury made me extra emotional. At one point, I cried three times in one day. Not pretty crying, UGLY crying. And it was like I had no control…

I had to change my mindset. This was a setback.

What could I control?

1) REST — I could make sure I was getting enough sleep at night and try to make time for some kind of nap during the day. Or at least lay down a little while not looking at anything or listening to anything. Just be quiet and let the brain be. And I got to snuggle more with my dog and cats!

2) Hydration and Nutrition — I could always keep drinking water…as that seems to be helpful in all areas of life. And keep my nutrition in check. Remember to eat. And eat good foods.

3) Slow Down — It’s not like I can’t move! Instead of going running with my dog, we went for long walks on the beach. Instead of listening to podcasts, I listened to the waves on the water. This gave me time to think and evaluate the situation. I could still do strength training! It’s even recommended in the articles I read to help the brain grow and repair. I worked on all the little things I learned in physical therapy. I learned where I needed more work in my mobility that I wouldn’t have found if I didn’t slow down. I did more yoga!

4) Check Out — It is important to stay away from devices and screens as much as possible in the early days. And that gave me perspective. Limiting my online access opened up more time to look around me, to look outside, to be in the moment with my husband and furry family, and to relax. 

5) Set Goals — One of the hardest parts of being sidelined with any injury if you’re a highly motivated person like me, is to feel like you’re not getting anywhere. That you’re backsliding. There has to be a feeling of making progress, of accomplishment. I worked on achieving the perfect pull up. I used resistance bands to help and each week, I was able to get closer, go down a band. My grip strength did not start out very strong so I set a goal of how long I want to be able to dead hang from the bar and I got better! In focusing on stretching, I was getting closer and closer to the range of motion I wanted in my body. I always use a notebook to track my workouts so I can see my progress. 

6) Support the Team — I couldn’t play in the next game of the season. I wasn’t anywhere near symptom free yet. But I knew the team still needed me. I sat on the bench and vowed to give as many high fives as I could. Always had a kind word or reminder for skaters that needed it. Urged my teammates to take risks and use the skills they’d been working on in practice. It can be heartbreaking not to be out there, but I threw myself completely into positivity and being a ray of freakin’ sunshine for everyone. And that felt good. It felt like I helped. It felt like I was still a part of the team.

7) Sense of Humor — My brain wasn’t working. Thinking was hard. There was a day I went walking with my dog and came back to my driveway and for a moment didn’t recognize the footprints…that were mine. I told my husband I was going grocery shopping and I’d check the fridge for stuff he was out of. Guess what? I didn’t. I went straight out the door and forgot about it. He got no groceries. These types of incidents became funny stories I’d tell later and laugh about. Anytime I forgot something, I’d laugh and say, “Sorry, my brain doesn’t work right now.”

While this article is about my personal experience with a concussion, these ideas can be translated into any injury situation. It’s just a setback. It’s not forever. It WILL have an end. Even if it feels like it’s taking forever. There are plenty of things you CAN do about it. You’re not helpless. You’re strong. You’re not giving up, you’re being smart and planning your comeback.

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What you have just read was written in 2018 about my fourth concussion. At the end of January in 2020, I had my sixth concussion. 80% of concussions resolve within 7-10 days, longer if you’ve had multiple concussions. 20% of people diagnosed with concussions can develop Post Concussion Syndrome. My next article is about my journey of being diagnosed with PCS. (Visit the Bout Betties blog to see more…)

Thanks to Jackie Bauer for letting us repost her blog post, it has really great information that we can all use no matter our skill levels. Check out her podcast on Apple, Itunes, Spotify, Stitcher and Anchor FM. Today Jackie released a new episode about this very subject.