No Concussion Test?!

[Mother_of_Arabians]

So my friend got bucked off a green colt the other day while we were riding. She wasn’t wearing a helmet(she rides strictly western and thinks they’re stupid) and flipped over the neck and landed right on her head. She broke the end off her ulna(kinda besides the point) and when she got up she said she couldn’t hear. She couldn’t hear for a good 10 mins, before she was taken to the hospital.

I didn’t go with her to the hospital but when she came back she said they didn’t test her for a concussion because “they weren’t worried about it because she was coherent, and said the hearing loss was from adrenaline and shock”. I’m sorry but I’ve always been taught that anytime you have sensory loss of any kind (ESPECIALLY for that long) from a head impact you get tested in some way or even CT scanned for a concussion. I have gotten a grade 2 concussion and was totally coherent but they still tested me and it ended up being worse than we thought.

We live in kind of the middle of nowhere but it would seem to me that any hospital should test just in case. This just seems bad to me that the hospital wasn’t even concerned about this and didn’t even test her

What are your guys thoughts on this?

[Ajierene]

It depends on a lot of things. I live in a pretty populated area and had you said that happened at the hospital in my small town, I would tend to think it’s because they don’t know what they are doing. If you said that about the hospital in the county nearby, I would have said the doctors know what they are talking about.

If memory serves correctly, if an individual is no exhibiting symptoms a while after the fact (like 30 minutes), then there either was no concussion or the concussion was so minor as to not be an issue. But I’m not a doctor and I don’t have a whole lot of experience on the subject.

[hoopoe]

she needs to check in with her MD or the surgeon for the fracture and get a second opinion and follow up ASAP

[mmeqcenter]

@Ajierene

If memory serves correctly, if an individual is no exhibiting symptoms a while after the fact (like 30 minutes), then there either was no concussion or the concussion was so minor as to not be an issue. But I’m not a doctor and I don’t have a whole lot of experience on the subject.

This is wildly untrue and dangerous to tell people. It can take hours, days, weeks, even MONTHS for a person to exhibit symptoms of a concussion.

There is no such thing as a “not an issue” concussion.

OP that hospital failed miserably, and your friend needs to be seen by a different, more knowledgeable doctor ASAP.

[mmeqcenter]

OP that hospital failed miserably, and your friend needs to be seen by a different, more knowledgeable doctor ASAP.

[Blugal]

Yikes. I know someone who was in a car accident, thought they felt ok enough not to take the ambulance to the hospital, and went to their child’s house for the night. The following day they acted very strangely and the child took them to the hospital where they found the patient had a brain bleed. This person had a severe concussion and suffered post-concussion syndrome so badly that they never worked again, had personality changes - it really wrecked their life.

[glitterless]

She should go back and ask for a head CT ASAP. Small hospital or not, they should know better.

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

I’ve been in a lot of situations where the adrenaline is flowing, and never lost the ability to hear because of it.

Your hospital sounds like our podunk POS hospital. This is exactly the kind of thing they’d pull. Your friend needs to be on the lookout for any other symptoms, and she needs to follow up with her regular doctor. Like, today. As @mmeqcenter said, symptoms AND results can take weeks to months to full make themselves known. Can you go with her to her regular doctor and insist on a CT scan? She may play it down, or not even mention the head trauma. But she needs one, for sure.

[Wicky]

I think she might need to see a neurologist, or an ENT. Loss of hearing is not common, although it does happen. I think it takes her injury out of the typical head injury (if a head injury can be said to be “typical.”). It makes a big difference whether it was one sided or both ears.

https://www.dizziness-and-balance.com/disorders/post/posttrau%20hearing.html

I agree that the hospital did not do the right thing. Although when I was lawn darted into a post (wearing a helmet, thank you!) and fulfilled the criteria for getting a CT, the ER doc at MGH did NOT order one. SO, Mans Greatest Hospital did no better than Podunk General. That’s why, when several years later I had a scintillating scotoma x2, I went to Mass Eye and Ear. They did a great job.

[Beck]

There is a concussion test? Not according to the course I took recently. The most difficult thing about concussions is the lack of definitive diagnostic tests.

She bumped her head: she has a concussion.

And hearing loss certainly merits a much closer look.

[candyappy]

I had a horse fall with me as a teen. Whacked the ground pretty hard with the side of my head and was out for a few minutes and had decent confusion/ disoriented for a bit .

Went to the ER and never got any kind of test. Just told me not to sleep. Hopefully things have improved in diagnosis since way back then !

[SuzieQNutter]

She also should not be riding for a while as a second hit could be fatal and of course from now on always wear a helmet. That doesn’t mean she will.

[anon68314200]

Tell the ER docs to look up Natasha Richardson.

[Mother_of_Arabians]

@Alex and Bodie's Mom

Your friend needs to be on the lookout for any other symptoms, and she needs to follow up with her regular doctor. Like, today. As @mmeqcenter said, symptoms AND results can take weeks to months to full make themselves known. Can you go with her to her regular doctor and insist on a CT scan? She may play it down, or not even mention the head trauma. But she needs one, for sure.

I wish I could go with her and encourage her to get checked. I’d even tell the doctors about it, because when it comes to the health of a friend after an injury like this, snitching is ok😅. She went home 2hrs away (we’re both in college) to get her arm set and I don’t think she mentioned the head trauma to the surgeons or doctors there. I’ve always learned that it’s dangerous and you shouldn’t put a person under if they have a concussion, but she had surgery yesterday to get her arm set. Apparently she’s had a really hard time coming to after the surgery, which really concerns me and makes me think she didn’t mention the head trauma at all.

[Mother_of_Arabians]

@SuzieQNutter

She also should not be riding for a while as a second hit could be fatal and of course from now on always wear a helmet. That doesn’t mean she will.

Agreed. I wasn’t allowed to ride for 10 weeks after my concussion. And even after that I couldn’t go faster than a walk for a while.
Sadly knowing her she’ll never wear a helmet and she’ll probably try to get on, even with the broken arm. Luckily I don’t think the Prof will let her even near the horses for a good long while and i know that if anyone sees her trying to get on one they’ll just drag her off.

[TheHunterKid90]

Please have her follow up with her primary care physician and request a referral to a concussion specialist.
I am 4 months post concussion and still dealing with concussion symptoms despite immediate diagnosis, immediate referral to a specialist and 15 weeks of physical therapy.
She should be prepared to fight for her health until she gets the answers she wants.

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

@Mother of Arabians

Agreed. I wasn’t allowed to ride for 10 weeks after my concussion. And even after that I couldn’t go faster than a walk for a while.
Sadly knowing her she’ll never wear a helmet and she’ll probably try to get on, even with the broken arm. Luckily I don’t think the Prof will let her even near the horses for a good long while and i know that if anyone sees her trying to get on one they’ll just drag her off.

I’m curious - are you both in a riding program or on a team at college? You mentioned she’s in college and a Prof. If so - to be honest, I’d talk to the head of the program and let them know what happened. It’s for her own good. She might be angry, but they should make her get a complete physical.

Do her parents know she landed on her head? Do they know about the hearing loss? If she’s at home, they ought to know.

[HungarianHippo]

The most I would do is call her on the phone following up to see how she’s feeling, and lay out the reasons you’re really concerned for her health, and say you hope she’ll consider getting it checked out just to make sure things are ok. But that’s it. She’s an adult and is free to make healthcare decisions, no matter how stupid they may be.

[Mother_of_Arabians]

@Alex and Bodie's Mom

I’m curious - are you both in a riding program or on a team at college? You mentioned she’s in college and a Prof. If so - to be honest, I’d talk to the head of the program and let them know what happened. It’s for her own good. She might be angry, but they should make her get a complete physical.

Do her parents know she landed on her head? Do they know about the hearing loss? If she’s at home, they ought to know.

We’re both in the college Equine Sciences program, although we’ve both been riding for basically all our lives. The Prof is the head of the department and she was there when it happened. She’s the one who took my friend to the hospital while I put the horses back. When they got back I asked them both about the concussion situation and the Prof said she wasn’t too worried since the hospital said that because she was coherent she didn’t need any checks😬

I have no clue if her parents know or not. I’d hope they do but she probably down played it.

[S1969]

@Mother of Arabians

We’re both in the college Equine Sciences program, although we’ve both been riding for basically all our lives. The Prof is the head of the department and she was there when it happened. She’s the one who took my friend to the hospital while I put the horses back. When they got back I asked them both about the concussion situation and the Prof said she wasn’t too worried since the hospital said that because she was coherent she didn’t need any checks😬

I have no clue if her parents know or not. I’d hope they do but she probably down played it.

If I were the parent and this professor let my child come home for medical care and did not reach out to me to give a full description of the injury - I’d be pretty angry. Potential lawsuit angry.