48 hours ago I had a hard fall on my bike. I was turning on to a narrow road with leaves on the edge, once my tires hit the leaves I was on the ground. My head hit with enough force to crack my helmet. Thank goodness I was wearing one, a relatively new one, thanks to an interaction with Scott Paisley of Blue Wheel Bicycles. I met him at a health and wellness fair at a Nelson County elementary school, our booths were next to each other and we started chatting about cycling, I was telling him my helmet was 15 years old and was due for replacement, he definitely agreed!

When should you replace a helmet? I found a nice article here.

I didn’t lose consciousness, but I immediately knew I was hurt and probably had a concussion. Concussions have been a popular topic in the media, they are more common, and often under diagnosed. In our practice we have seen a few people with lingering symptoms of a concussion 6 or more months after the initial trauma. As a chiropractor I understand the importance of a healthy brain and nerve system. My personal care includes regular wellness spinal check-ups. I have someone who knows what my spine feels like and how it responds when it is healthy, thus she can detect small changes in structure and function when it is under stress (from trauma).

These major publications have all recently reported on concussions:
Time: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1873131,00.html
CNN: http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/01/docs-seek-to-better-id-concussions-invisible-injury/
Sports Illustrated: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/baseball/mlb/10/21/mlb.concussions.ap/index.html?eref=sihp
ESPN: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=5763375

The most important article I’ve read on concussions is from Oct. 2010. http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/News-concussion-free-athletes-show-brain-inpairment-100810.aspx?xmlmenuid=51 It shows small, repeated trauma cause brain changes, not just large impacts.

“These four players showed significant brain deficits. Technically, we aren’t calling the impairment concussions because that term implies very specific clinical symptoms, such as losing consciousness or having trouble walking and speaking. At the same time, our data clearly indicate significant impairment.”

These are the types of concussion injuries that go undetected. If you are a parent and your child plays sports, this is a must read.

So, what did I do? I immediately had my chiropractor examine my spine, and entrain my nervous system. What is an Entrainment? Watch here:

I knew by getting my spine and nerve system entrained my body would be best able to handle the trauma it had just encountered. I knew my symptoms wouldn’t magically disappear, but would set up the best conditions for healing. Each day I’ve improved, and since it’s only been two days I know I have a way to go before I’m 100%. In the mean time I’ll give myself extra time to rest and recover.

March 2014 – I was going through a memory card and found a picture of the cracked helmet.

Time to replace this helmet

For an in depth article on bike helmets and concussions, read this: