Coping with five concussions: an interview with Ian Scott

Ian Scott is a college student from Seattle, Washington, and currently attends Carleton College. He loves to play soccer and swim on the Carleton Swim and Dive team. When he's not being physically active, Ian likes to unwind by playing the piano. Although he might not seem any different compared to other people, Ian has actually suffered through five concussions in his lifetime. This interview depicts how his concussions have affected him and how he currently deals with the aftermath of five concussions. 

Ian was interviewed by Josh Wu during his internship with Concussion Alliance, as part of the December 2020 Concussion Education & Advocacy Internship Program.

Josh Wu:

What is the story behind all five of your concussions?

Ian Scott:

I got my first concussion when I was nine years old. I was playing indoor soccer, and this guy body checked me into a wall while I was dribbling the ball. And if you don't know what an indoor soccer court looks like, they have a little door for players to enter the field. I hit my head on the corner of that door, and I blacked out for a minute. It was, by far, the worst concussion out of the five. 

The second one happened while I was playing at another soccer game, and I was guarding this guy who was trying to get past me. The ball was bouncing toward him, and he kicked it over his head. I was right on his back, and he didn't kick it high enough, so the ball just smacked me in my face. I experienced whiplash and another concussion.  

Then when I was 15, I got my third concussion by swimming into a wall. It's kind of crazy how you get a concussion from swimming. They took down the flags--flags indicate how far away the wall is when you're swimming backstroke. I was swimming backstroke against my dad, and I did not want him to beat me. Unfortunately, I didn't know where the wall was, so I just swam full force into the wall. My head hit the wall first, and my head became numb for three days. My neck became super messed up too. 

My joke with these concussions is that I just was at the wrong place at the wrong time four out of the five times, and there was one time were I was just being stupid. The fourth concussion was the stupid one. I was going out with my friends, and I belly-flopped off a 25-foot rope swing.  

Then the fifth and most recent one was the one that happened at the beginning of this year, 2020, and it also happened in a pool. I was warming up for my first event by swimming backstroke, and the divers were also warming up, so they took down the flags. I didn't know the flags got taken down, so I smacked my head against the wall. I ended up swimming the rest of the meet, which I realize I shouldn't have done. I also did a belly flop--because it was senior night, and I was also a diver. My friends were like, "Oh, the last dive of your high school career; you should do a belly flop." They played music in the locker room after the meet, and my head was throbbing. 

Luckily, the concussions were spaced out, so there are three years between each one.

Josh Wu:

After all of your concussions, what were some short-term and recurring symptoms you experienced?

Ian Scott:

I was really sensitive to light and sound. After my most recent concussion at a swim meet this year, my team played music in the locker room, and my head was throbbing. Even in June, I started swimming again, and I couldn't listen to music while driving to practice. And if I spend a lot of time looking at screens, my headaches worsen or happen more frequently. Online school [during the pandemic] was pretty tough since I was staring at screens for so long. 

I always have a headache. There's not a single day I don't have a headache. I have a very high tolerance for headaches now. It's honestly sad that that's how normalized my headaches are to me. And there are different types of headaches. I always have a tension headache. As I'm talking to you right now, it feels like there's a headband that's wrapped around my head, and the headband can tighten or loosen. And so, right now, it's pretty loose, but I definitely can still feel it. My doctor, Dr. Murinova, also diagnosed me with chronic migraines, but they have been decreasing in frequency. Migraine attacks feel like you're in a daze. I couldn't bring myself to do any cognitive activity for the entire day. Sometimes, I'll have a pickax headache, which feels like someone's driving a pickax through my temples, or the back left part of my brain or the back right part of my brain.

I definitely experienced post-concussion depression, too, because I couldn't do all the stuff I enjoyed doing anymore. I couldn't play the piano, or play soccer or go to swim practice; I had to find other stuff to do. This was my senior year, so I felt like I was missing out on so much stuff. I experienced serious FOMO (fear of missing out). Even worse was that I was a captain of the swim team, so I felt like I had this duty to help my teammates, but I basically wasn't there for three-quarters of the season. It made me incredibly sad.

Josh Wu:

What was your experience with the healthcare system? 

Ian Scott:

This is where I'm very lucky. My dad's an infectious disease doctor at the University of Washington, so we got to visit some of the best doctors. I got to see the Seahawks' concussion doctor, and he was an incredibly humble guy, but, obviously, really smart and really good at taking care of his patients. So yeah, I am very privileged in that way because both of my parents are doctors, and they knew exactly what to do, and they had the connections already in place.

I also went to go see one of the neurologists at the local University of Washington's Medicine Neurology Center, and her name is Dr. Murinova, and she's insanely smart. She helped me learn about what your brain does and how it works, and how a concussion affects it, which is super cool.

One of the things that Dr. Murinova gave me this thing called a Cephaly. It's a neuro-electro modulator, and it's been super helpful. I've been using it probably since April. It starts at a really low electrical impulse, but it slowly intensifies, and you can press a little button, and it'll stop, and it'll just rest at that voltage. There are two different modes: 20 minutes and 60 minutes. The 60 minute is for acute migraines, so if you get a really bad headache, it helps it calm down. I usually do it right before bed because it really helps me wind down and fall asleep quickly.

Josh Wu:

How did your family, friends, and other members of your support system respond to your concussions? 

Ian Scott:

I think my parents really understood the severity and importance and how bad my concussions were, so I was really grateful for that support. I'm generally a pretty happy person, and I was just down in the dumps for four or five months, which made them sad. I had a lot of my friends empathize, "I feel for you."

Josh Wu:

How did teachers and coaches, and people like them respond to your experience with concussions?

Ian Scott:

They made accommodations for me, especially my high school AP Bio teacher. I was way the heck behind, and he really helped me get back on track. I think that to get those accommodations, we had to fight for it a lot, and I think that's the way it is with the public school system, at least in Seattle. 

I got on one of the plans that the doctors give the people to show, "Okay, this kid got a concussion. Please excuse him from this, this, and this." It's a gradual reentry into school because you can't go straight back in. There's just no way, especially after how many I've had. 

My coaches were very concerned, especially with the concussion I got when I was nine. Everyone was just like, "That was not good."

I honestly say that it's more pressure that you put on yourself than the people around you. I felt like I was going to lose all my training; I wasn't going to be able to swim at State. I just needed to go back. I'd definitely say there wasn't a lot of outside pressure to do the stuff. It was much more from who I am and what I wanted to do. And I couldn't imagine what it would be like with having a person that was like, "Oh, I need you to do this," and I wouldn't be able to get that appropriate amount of rest. That would be brutal.

Josh Wu:

How are you currently dealing with the aftermath of your concussions?

Ian Scott:

I'd say pretty well. I'm thankful that I can do the stuff that I like doing now. The fact that I swam yesterday, and I just finished my first term of college, I'm like, "Wow." In March, if you told me that I was doing this right now, I would be very happy. And another thing that my mom and I have talked about is this fear of getting another one because I know I walk a very fine line. I want to do the stuff that I want to do to the full extent that I can, but it's always this fear of, like, "Oh, if I get another one, will my brain be able to take it?" And even with little bonks. I remember this time in June. I sleep in a bunk bed, and I got up, and I very, very lightly just hit my head, and I got a pretty bad headache after that, and I was crying. I was like, "I don't know if I can do this."

Concussions have become a part of who I am. I have so many routines associated with it, and it kind of dictates what I can and can't do. I drank a little bit in high school, but honestly, I was like, "There's no way I'm going to be able to do that stuff." Which I think was a really healthy decision. I think it's this persistence that I've learned to live with, and I think it's really hard to get used to because you can't do some of the stuff that you did before. I just have to be so much more careful about so many things.

It's also kind of contributed to my chaotic energy. I was much more subdued before my concussions. I didn't talk nearly as much. I used to be very anxious in social settings, but now I'm not really worried about that kind of stuff. I think through processing my thoughts and stuff like that; I got more comfortable with who I am. I can almost use the concussion as an excuse sometimes. I think I'm much more reflective, and honestly, I think I'm much more in tune with how my body feels. 

Josh Wu:

Any final thoughts for people who are experiencing persistent post-concussive symptoms and their support system?

Ian Scott:

One of the main things that I think is that too many people go back way too soon. Take the appropriate time to heal. And even though you feel like you're missing out on a bunch of stuff, you have to remember that if you don't treat your body the way it needs to be treated during this time, you're just going to keep on having these symptoms. Right now, it might last just for like three months, but if you keep on doing this and if you don't let it heal, this might be the rest of your life type deal, and that's what's really sad. It might be really frustrating when the doctor's like, "You're out for three months." Three months is a long time; that's basically a whole entire sports season. But you have to keep the longer-term goals, especially for kids in high school; that's super hard. But it's really, really important.

The healing process doesn't need to be on your own. As for the support group, checking in on how the concussed person is feeling, like, "How are other parts of your body feeling? Could I give you a massage?" That kind of stuff is really, really helpful. Not doing the stuff that you love doesn't mean you shouldn't do anything. You still need to interact with other people. Just be conscientious of how your body's feeling, and if it's not feeling good, go somewhere else. But yeah, there's definitely a lonely aspect afterward during the healing process that if you can mitigate that, that's really, really good.

It's super painful sometimes to actually spend the time to heal. You just want to be better instantly. It might even take a little longer than you expected it to. But make sure to take care of your noggin. You only got one of them. Ride a bike with a helmet.

Thank you!