There is no doubt that the word concussion stirs up a lot of concern these days. In Chinese medicine head injuries have to do with the mental aspects of your life. These include: confusion, being stubborn, lack of clear thinking, and either memory lapses or wanting to forget.
Mental/emotional issues always precede physical problems, whether they be pain, injury, or disease. The more chronic, the more it points out that you’re not dealing with the circumstances in your life that are disturbing your peace. Dis-ease means lack of ease.
In my son’s case, Nolan had a concussion two summers ago. He was playing soccer and marking his man on his side of the field. On the opposite side of the field, his teammate kicked the ball towards him. Nolan was so focused on his man, that he NEVER knew what hit him.
He was totally caught unaware and was unprepared for the ball as it struck him violently on the right side of his head, just above the ear. He went down. His teammates gathered him up and helped him off the field and then went back to continue playing. They were short handed that game, so there was no one to see to him. But as he came to, he began to realize that he couldn’t see out of his eye. He was blinded by the hard blow to the head!
Imagine what was going through his mind in that instant. From the mundane to the worse of fears. Imagine what he was thinking and feeling!
He sat on the sidelines and waited, hoping, and praying. Sometime later – he doesn’t know how long he was on the sidelines, maybe 10 or 20 minutes, his eyesight finally came back. He WENT back on the field! He didn’t feel well, but he went back on the field to give his shorthanded teammates a chance to rest. At some point he knew he had a concussion.
The game ended and he drove himself home. That’s when the headaches started. He decided to stop doing everything except work. There was no way he would stop going to work just out of priority. But he would make the mistake that everyone else makes about concussions – nothing. He stopped all other activities to rest. But over the next few weeks the symptoms of his concussion only got worse.
By the time he finally called me, it was about 2 – 3 weeks after it happened. By then, the ramifications of his concussion were disruptive. His headaches were near continuous. He had no appetite – this is a kid who was born 4 weeks early, who’d never missed a meal since! He was feeling nauseous. He couldn’t sleep. He was a wreck and still trying to perform at a demanding job as an intermediate Professional Engineer. He was a wreck!
I already knew he was upset about what was going on at work. He loved his job and the company but the previous beloved and well respected boss left for another job. The vacancy lasted 6 months – they couldn’t find the right person. And then they hired someone who must have sounded like he had promise, but he told his staff he wanted to be friends with them. It’s a bunch of young guns. They don’t want a friend. They want a leader, someone they can approach when they have a problem with an assignment!
So it went on for a few months. One of Nolan’s colleagues made a fast decision, found a new job, and was preparing to leave. Nolan loved his job and the company but hated his new boss. He didn’t want to quit but he didn’t want anything to do with this guy either! Big dilemma!
The blow to the head was a wake up call. If he didn’t change on the inside, then his external circumstances weren’t going to change until he did. I knew that as soon as he blurted out that he’d suffered a severe concussion. He knew he had a concussion, there was no question about that.
Nothing that happens in your life is ever an accident. The physical aspect is always a signpost to internal issues. Nolan’s concussion could’ve stopped him from going into work because he didn’t want to face what was happening there. So it was up to me to show him what he could do about the situation that upset him so much. The plan was to set up meetings with his boss and for Nolan to ask for what he wanted from him. I told him that there was no guarantee that this guy would give him anything. But the important thing was, Nolan was taking control of the situation.
I knew it wasn’t going to be easy for him to make these changes. He had to feel motivated. He had to believe in his own abilities and he had to have faith. in the end he made the necessary changes inside himself and he began to FEEL better because he had found a way to stay with the job and the company.
So what happened? Nolan healed his concussion. In a few short weeks, he was back at light practices with his team. In a few more short weeks, he started the indoor season and he skiied ALL winter long. It’s been more than 18 months now and he’s had NO relapse, no return of any symptoms.
And what happened to the boss? Upstairs were obviously watching. They fired him and lured back the previous boss. Nolan learned to be patient – positive emotion. He learned to take control of the situation – positive emotion. It paid off. He’s still at the company and the job he loves. And best of all, he said good bye to his concussion and hello to life and health!
Dr. Joanny Liu, TCMD, RAc, P.Eng. Dr Joanny Liu “Best Selling Author and founder of Extraordinary Sports Medicine, where we help athletes reverse injury, get back in the game they love and improve their quality of life.” Best selling book at: Heal Your Concussion: How to Quickly and Effectively Get Back in the Game Remember, we’ve got two books about healing concussions in Amazon: Knock OUT Concussions, Heal Your Concussion: 21 Days to Brain Health, and Dr. Joanny’s new book, Heal Your Concussion: How to Quickly and Effectively Get Back in the Game is NOW live on Amazon!
