Update on my Brain Injury & the Future of Strange Parts

Summary

The video recounts Scotty's journey recovering from a serious concussion caused by an accident involving an aluminum pipe. Initially misadvised to rest in isolation, his condition worsened, with persistent headaches, brain fog, and vision issues. Eventually, he sought treatment at Cognitive FX, a specialized concussion clinic, which led to significant improvements after intensive therapy. Scotty shares his experiences to encourage others with concussions not to give up and highlights how the clinic helped restore his cognitive function. He also discusses his plans for future projects and launching a Patreon to support his work.

Takeaways

• 😌 The speaker has recovered significantly from a head injury caused by being hit with an aluminum pipe during a warehouse shoot.
• 😔 After the injury, they experienced severe concussion symptoms like headaches, brain fog, and impaired vision, which worsened over time due to outdated medical advice.
• 😓 They struggled to access proper treatment in New Mexico, leading them to move to Colorado, where they connected with a concierge doctor.
• 🙌 The turning point came when they publicly shared their story in a video, which led to helpful responses and an offer for free treatment from a leading concussion clinic, Cognitive FX.
• 🤔 The speaker was initially skeptical but decided to pursue treatment at Cognitive FX, which resulted in dramatic improvements over a five-day program.
• 😊 Although recovery was gradual, they made steady progress by following Cognitive FX's prescribed exercises, particularly for their vision, which was the slowest to recover.
• 💡 Today, the speaker feels mostly recovered, experiencing occasional headaches but having regained cognitive clarity and the ability to work again.
• 🔧 The speaker is now focused on creating more videos and plans to hire a team to assist with production, hoping to return to factory tours and ambitious projects.
• 📣 The speaker launched a Patreon to fund their work, offering behind-the-scenes access, project files, and other perks to supporters.
• 💪 They highly recommend Cognitive FX for anyone suffering from a concussion or long COVID, emphasizing how effective the treatment was in their own recovery.

Q & A

What caused the speaker’s head injury?

The speaker was hit in the back of the head by an aluminum pipe that tipped over while shooting in a warehouse. The pipe had been placed there by the speaker weeks earlier and was forgotten.

What symptoms did the speaker experience immediately after the injury?

Immediately after the injury, the speaker experienced a massive headache, vision issues, brain fog, and a general sense of disorientation. He also felt 'dopey' and had difficulty thinking clearly.

What was the initial advice given to the speaker by medical professionals after the injury?

The medical professionals advised the speaker to rest in a dark room, avoid reading, watching TV, or doing any strenuous activities. This advice, however, was outdated and later proven to lead to worse outcomes.

Why was the speaker’s recovery slow after following the initial medical advice?

The speaker's recovery was slow because the outdated advice of extended rest caused his brain to stagnate rather than heal. Modern concussion treatment suggests that patients should start re-engaging with activities after a short period of rest.

What difficulties did the speaker face while trying to continue working after the injury?

The speaker struggled with cognitive tasks such as reading, planning, and even speaking clearly on camera. He had to take frequent breaks in a dark room and felt mentally exhausted after short periods of activity.

How did the speaker eventually find the right treatment for his concussion?

The speaker moved to Colorado and connected with a specialist through a contact at Cognitive FX, a top concussion clinic in the nation. He was offered treatment in exchange for sharing his honest recovery experience.

What were the results of the treatment at Cognitive FX?

After five days of treatment, the speaker's brain scan results went from significantly abnormal to completely normal. Although his recovery was gradual over the following months, the treatment marked a major turning point.

What were some of the lingering symptoms after the treatment?

The speaker still experienced occasional headaches and issues with his vision, particularly when working on visually demanding tasks like editing or driving at night. However, his overall cognitive function improved steadily.

What steps did the speaker take after returning home from treatment?

The speaker followed a daily routine of cardio, cognitive exercises, and vision exercises to stimulate brain recovery. These exercises were designed to encourage neuron and blood vessel regrowth in the brain.

What message does the speaker have for others suffering from concussions?

The speaker advises others not to give up hope and to seek modern concussion treatment. He stresses the importance of staying active in recovery and encourages reaching out to specialists like those at Cognitive FX for help.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 Recovery from Concussion and the Start of a Long Journey

The speaker begins by addressing inquiries about his recovery, stating that he's doing well, but feels it's important to share the full story of his injury for the benefit of others facing similar struggles. He recounts an accident 16 months ago where he was hit by an aluminum pipe while filming, which resulted in a concussion. Although there was no skull fracture or brain bleed, he experienced severe symptoms including headaches, vision problems, brain fog, and a loss of mental clarity. Unfortunately, he followed outdated advice to rest in a dark room, which worsened his condition.

05:00

🤕 Struggles and Realizations About Modern Treatment

As the speaker's condition stagnated, he found it challenging to function, with daily activities like reading, watching TV, and driving exacerbating his headaches. He also struggled with irritability, speech issues, and memory problems. After months of minimal improvement, he realized he needed help. However, accessing proper care was difficult due to long wait times for specialists in New Mexico. Ultimately, he moved to Colorado, where his father helped him connect with a concierge doctor. This change marked a turning point, along with the release of his video 'I have a Brain Injury,' which garnered support from his followers.

10:00

💡 A Breakthrough at Cognitive FX

The speaker explains how a connection with Chance Hansen at Cognitive FX, one of the top concussion clinics in the country, led to a major breakthrough. Chance offered free treatment in exchange for an honest review of the experience. Despite initial skepticism, the speaker decided to try the program, and by the end of the first day, he was exhausted. By the third night, he experienced vivid nightmares—signs that his brain was healing. After five days of treatment, a brain scan revealed substantial improvement, transforming his abnormal results into normal ones. Although his recovery took months, this was a significant turning point.

15:01

🔨 Slow and Steady Recovery with Focus on Rehabilitation

The speaker discusses his slow but steady improvement after the Cognitive FX treatment. He was given daily homework to stimulate brain regrowth, including cardio and cognitive exercises. His vision, the slowest aspect to recover, continued to give him headaches, especially when using a computer or driving at night. Over time, through persistence and exercises, he made progress. While not completely free of symptoms, he now feels more like himself and is excited to return to work, especially in his new garage workshop.

🌟 Overcoming Self-Doubt and Moving Forward

Reflecting on his darkest moments, the speaker reveals he once doubted if he'd ever fully recover, even considering giving up his career in engineering and YouTube. The thought of losing his cognitive abilities, which had always defined him, was incredibly distressing. Despite these fears, he persevered and is grateful for how far he's come. He urges others suffering from concussions to remain hopeful and proactive in their recovery. He emphasizes that recovery is a gradual process, much like building a workshop, where progress is made one step at a time.

🎥 The Future of Strange Parts and Call for Support

The speaker shares his ambitions for the future of Strange Parts, including working on ambitious iPhone modifications, consumer electronics, and restarting factory tours. However, he expresses frustration at how much time he spends on non-creative tasks like managing cameras, answering emails, and attending meetings. To focus on his passion, he plans to hire a team for filming and editing. He's also launching a Patreon to help fund these endeavors and reduce dependence on brand deals. He details the Patreon tiers, offering exclusive benefits like behind-the-scenes access, design files, and unique Easter egg appearances in his videos.

💡 Balancing Nebula and Patreon for Content Creation

Addressing potential confusion, the speaker clarifies the difference between Nebula and Patreon. Nebula, similar to Netflix, hosts his finished videos, both those on YouTube without ads and exclusive content. Patreon, on the other hand, gives supporters early access to behind-the-scenes content and projects in progress. While he loves Nebula, Patreon allows for a more personal connection with fans and offers different perks. He emphasizes that either platform is valuable for supporting the channel, but ultimately, it helps him continue to produce the content that his audience enjoys.

🏥 A Final Shoutout and a Word of Hope for Others

The speaker concludes by expressing deep gratitude to Cognitive FX for their role in his recovery. He encourages anyone suffering from concussions, whether recent or decades old, to seek help from them. He also mentions that Cognitive FX has started treating cognitive symptoms related to long COVID with promising results. He urges viewers to take care of their brains, reminding them of its irreplaceable value, and includes links to the clinics in the description for those who might benefit.

Keywords

💡Concussion

A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury caused by a blow or jolt to the head, which disrupts normal brain function. In the video, the creator describes suffering a concussion after being struck by an aluminum pipe and explains the various physical and cognitive symptoms he experienced, such as headaches, brain fog, and vision problems. The video highlights the challenges of recovering from a concussion and the importance of seeking appropriate treatment.

💡Brain Fog

Brain fog refers to a state of mental confusion, forgetfulness, and lack of focus, often resulting in difficulty thinking clearly. The creator talks about feeling like he was 'swimming through molasses,' with everything seeming far away and hard to grasp. This condition is a core part of the creator’s experience following his head injury, significantly impairing his ability to work and carry out daily activities.

💡Cognitive FX

Cognitive FX is a specialized concussion treatment clinic mentioned in the video, where the creator sought treatment after months of failed recovery efforts. The clinic offered a cutting-edge program that significantly helped improve his cognitive symptoms. The creator praises the clinic’s methods and recounts how the treatment marked a major turning point in his recovery, emphasizing the importance of modern, proactive approaches to brain injury rehabilitation.

💡Headaches

Headaches are a recurring symptom the creator experienced following his concussion. He explains that they were almost constant, triggered by activities such as reading, watching TV, or even walking. Headaches were a major obstacle in his recovery, and even as he improved, they remained one of the lasting symptoms that could flare up under certain conditions, highlighting the long-term effects of brain injuries.

💡Vision Problems

Vision problems were one of the most persistent symptoms the creator dealt with after his concussion. He describes how his eyesight felt ‘off,’ making it hard to read, drive, or work on a computer without inducing headaches. Vision is noted as one of the slowest functions to recover after a concussion, and it required dedicated exercises like Brock stringing and pupil dilation to stimulate recovery.

💡Concussion Myths

The video addresses outdated medical advice and common myths about concussions, such as the notion that patients should rest in a dark room for long periods. The creator explains how this advice worsened his condition, as modern research suggests only brief rest followed by gradual reintroduction to normal activities is effective. This highlights the importance of staying informed about updated medical treatments for brain injuries.

💡Neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections, especially in response to injury or changes in environment. In the video, the creator’s recovery process involved specific cognitive and physical exercises that stimulated neuron regrowth and blood vessel recovery in the brain, showcasing how neuroplasticity played a key role in his gradual healing process.

💡Dark Room Recovery

This term refers to an outdated method for treating concussions, where patients are advised to stay in a dark room with minimal stimuli. The creator initially followed this approach but later realized it was detrimental to his recovery, causing stagnation. The video contrasts this with modern approaches that promote active engagement and gradual reintroduction to normal life, emphasizing the need to move away from outdated methods.

💡Cognitive Exercises

Cognitive exercises are brain-stimulating tasks designed to aid in mental recovery. After his treatment at Cognitive FX, the creator was given daily homework that included cognitive exercises to help his brain heal. These exercises involved activities like eye training, memory tasks, and problem-solving, all aimed at encouraging neuron and blood vessel regrowth, illustrating their importance in post-concussion recovery.

💡Long-term Recovery

Long-term recovery refers to the extended period it often takes for the brain to fully heal from a concussion. The creator’s journey shows that even after treatment, recovery is a slow and ongoing process that takes months. He emphasizes that while treatment helped immensely, the process required consistent effort through exercises and self-care, demonstrating the patience and persistence needed in recovering from a serious brain injury.

Highlights

Scotty recounts getting hit in the head by an aluminum pipe, which led to a concussion.

He initially followed outdated medical advice to rest in a dark room, which worsened his condition.

His symptoms included constant headaches, brain fog, slurred speech, and inability to read or plan.

Scotty struggled to get proper treatment in New Mexico and faced long waiting times for specialists.

He moved to Colorado and received help from a concierge doctor connected through his father.

The release of a YouTube video about his injury helped connect him with specialists, including Cognitive FX, a top concussion clinic.

Cognitive FX offered him free treatment in exchange for an honest account of his experience.

He was skeptical but decided to try the five-day treatment, which resulted in noticeable improvements.

His brain scan results improved significantly, showing recovery within five days of intensive treatment.

Although recovery was not immediate, he experienced steady improvement over the following months.

Cognitive exercises and eye exercises were essential parts of his continued recovery.

His vision was the slowest to recover, but after extensive exercises, he regained normal vision function.

Scotty emphasizes the importance of not giving up hope and actively pursuing recovery from concussions.

He shares plans to hire a team to help him focus on engineering and storytelling rather than administrative tasks.

Scotty launched a Patreon to support his work, offering exclusive content and behind-the-scenes access to his supporters.

Transcripts

- A bunch of you have been asking how is my head doing?

Am I fully healed yet?

And the short answer is I'm doing really really well.

But I think it's worth going back to the beginning.

I think it's important to tell the whole story

'cause I think it might help some folks

that might be going through similar struggles.

And if you've been following me for a while,

then this is an update on how things have been going

over the past year.

About 16 months ago, (tense music)

I got hit in the back of the head

by an aluminum pipe that tipped over

while I was shooting in a warehouse.

It was my own damn fault.

I put the pipe there a few weeks earlier

and probably forgot about it.

It clocked me pretty good

but I didn't really lose consciousness.

I didn't have much other than a lump to show for it.

But I knew pretty quickly I had a concussion.

I was pretty dopey and bum headed

and I had a massive headache brewing.

And while I could see,

my vision wasn't working that great.

A CAT scan at the ER

confirmed that I didn't have a skull fracture

or a brain bleed or anything serious like that.

They pretty much just told me

go home and rest in a dark room,

don't read, don't watch TV, don't do pretty much anything,

should go away.

So I did just that,

which (tense music) I know now is the absolute worst advice.

It's at least 20 years outta date,

and studies show it leads to way worse outcomes.

You should rest like that for 24, 48 hours max,

and then start getting out and trying to do things again.

(saw whirring)

But I didn't know any better.

With every day I spent laying in bed doing nothing,

my brain was just stagnating.

I don't know that it was very obvious

exactly how bad it was looking from the outside.

We're not actually building a single robot,

we're building two complete robots

with enough parts for three.

And the reason there is we,

I don't know what I'm saying.

Versus defense versus maneuverability.

And you have to have enough battery

to make it through a three minute fight.

That was recorded a few days after my injury.

It was so bad that after every take my brain was just mush.

And I was having to go take breaks between takes

in a dark room to recover so that I could do it all again.

(saw whirring)

I had a headache pretty much all of the time

and everything I did made it worse.

Reading, watching TV, driving,

even riding as a passenger with my eyes open

totally messed me up.

Any exercise, even just walking around the block

gave me a massive headache.

And it wasn't just the headaches, it was the brain fog.

It was like I was swimming through molasses.

I don't know, everything seemed so far away.

It was like looking through somebody else's eyes

10 feet away the whole time.

I was irritable and pretty quick to get angry.

Any form of planning was pretty hard

and I couldn't read very well

nor could I keep track of what I was reading,

so researching how to get better was super difficult.

When things got really bad, I started to slur my speech.

It was sort of like being somewhere

between drunk and hungover, but only the bad parts.

After a few months of this, I knew something wasn't right.

I was getting a little bit better, but not much.

I knew I needed help,

but finding it proved to be so much more difficult

than I ever could have imagined.

I couldn't get in to see a doctor in New Mexico

to save my life.

And getting into a specialist

was a four to six month waiting list.

(metal clinking)

(machinery whirring)

I didn't have months to wait.

It was clear that waiting wasn't working

and I was ready to get back to work

and get back to the rest of my life.

(vacuum whirring)

Eventually I left New Mexico and came here to Colorado.

My folks live here.

My dad had a pretty good relationship

with a concierge doctor

who was willing to take me on and help me sort things out.

By this point I knew enough

to know what modern concussion treatment looked like,

but putting it into practice on my own

was proving pretty difficult.

The biggest turning point

was when I released the video titled

"I have a Brain Injury"

letting you know what was going on with me

and why I hadn't posted in so long.

And I'd (Scotty sighs) recorded that video

about six weeks earlier when I was leaving New Mexico,

but I was so afraid to even watch it, let alone release it.

This video turned out to be the turning point in my recovery

in ways that I have a hard time even imagining now.

(soft music)

A number of people reached out to me

offering all sorts of help and advice

and introductions to concussion specialists and whatnot.

It was all pretty overwhelming at the time,

but all super valuable and unexpected.

If you were one of the people

that reached out and I never responded, I'm sorry.

Reading and replying to lots of email

was just outta reach for me at that point.

One of those people was Chance Hansen

who is the marketing and content manager at Cognitive FX.

Which turns out is one of the top concussion clinics

in the nation.

He said that he had been a fan for a long time

and wanted to see what he could do to help.

And so he went to the partners of the clinic

and he convinced them to offer me treatment for free

as well as to get me in as quickly as possible,

in return for telling my story, telling an honest account

of what the treatment was like and how well it worked.

And he said, "if it doesn't work,

"we want you to say that."

I knew I'd be a fool to turn this down, (Scotty laughs)

but I was also pretty skeptical.

How could they cure in five days

what I had spent months trying to heal from?

And honestly the results on their website

seemed too good to be true.

I told Chance about my skepticism

and he said, "good, come try it out.

"Our results will speak for themselves."

And I figured, you know (Scotty sighs)

what did I have to lose?

So I went for it.

I hired a local camera operator

since I didn't feel up to filming myself

going through such rigorous treatment.

Boy am I glad I did. (Scotty laughs)

By the end of the first day, I was just toast.

By the end of the third night

I was having vivid nightmares,

which while not particularly pleasant was a sign

that something was changing. (Scotty laughs)

And I realized I hadn't been having dreams

since before the concussion.

Something in my brain was changing.

(light music) By the end of the week I was exhausted,

but I was also really excited

because (metal clinking) while I was tired

I wasn't having the same level of symptoms or headaches

that I was at the beginning of the week.

It was more like a normal kind of tired

rather than my brain just totally shutting down.

But the most significant indicator

was the brain scan results.

- Goal obviously is we'd like you

to look more like a normative healthy population patient.

- Wow.

- And there we go.

Normative bell curves are good.

(doctor laughs)

- Wow.

That's substantial.

I was blown away.

I went from a significantly abnormal FMRA brain scan

at the beginning of the week

to a completely normal one at the end of the week,

in five days.

(light music) I drove back to Denver

completely full of energy,

which was good because I moved into a new house

the following week and immediately started renovating

the garage into this workshop.

I have since learned (Scotty laughs)

that you are supposed to take some time off

and rest after treatment, but I didn't know.

My recovery after treatment wasn't overnight.

It took months, but there was a slow and steady improvement

day after day after day.

Cognitive FX sent me home with homework.

An hour every day

split between 30 minutes cardio intervals,

and 30 minutes of cognitive exercises,

and eye exercises that were intended

to stimulate my neurons, encourage neuron regrowth

and blood vessel regrowth in my brain.

The one thing that was really holding me up was my eyes.

They still weren't working quite right.

You know anything that required

a lot of visual attention (saw whirring)

gave me a headache pretty much right away.

Editing, using the computer pretty much in general,

and driving at night were the worst offenders.

They said that vision was the slowest thing to recover,

which was frustrating.

But I kept at it and I did (Scotty laughs)

endless days of Brock stringing exercises, (Scotty mumbles)

shining flashlights in my eyes

to get my pupils to dilate correctly.

But it gradually got better. (metal clinking)

(drill whirring)

And here I am today, more or less fully recovered.

I'm not perfect, I still have headaches from time to time.

There's a a few specific things that will still set me off.

Even a small bump can give me symptoms back for days.

But I can think clearly again, I can see clearly again,

and most importantly, I'm back to work

(tools whirring)

which feels amazing.

I can't even tell you.

(tools whirring)

(tools clinking)

I wasn't sure whether I was gonna heal,

it wasn't a guarantee, which is a really depressing thought.

(metal clinking)

I had visions of giving up on YouTube,

and honestly giving up on engineering entirely.

(saw whirring)

(tense music) I even spent a particularly dark evening

researching warehouse jobs in the area.

(tool squeaking)

I've always made my living off my brain,

off my ability to think really hard,

and for long periods of time.

It's a core part of my identity.

(tool rattling)

What would life be like without that?

It was super depressing to think about,

and at times made me want to give up entirely.

(metal clinking)

It's a little hard to look back

and appreciate exactly how far I've come.

Alexa, turn on the lights.

- [Alexa] Okay.

- To remember (footsteps clinking) what it was like

when I didn't know when or if I'd ever get better.

(tools clinking)

But I'm happy to say it's possible.

(soft music)

And if you're suffering from a concussion,

don't give up hope, or let anybody tell you

to just wait it out and sit around in a dark room.

Keep at it even when it feels like nothing is changing.

Just like this workshop,

it's a matter of making things better

one small step at a time, one day at a time.

That looks pretty good.

I wanna make more videos.

I'm talking ambitious iPhone modifications,

building and modifying other consumer electronics,

and restarting factory tours.

But (Scotty sighs) here's the thing,

I'm spending way too much of my time

doing stuff that's not this.

It's not working on cool projects

or figuring out what stories to tell.

It's things like wrangling cameras and lights

and camera footage, answering email, and having meetings.

So I wanna hire some people to help me

so that I can focus on the stuff that I'm great at

and that ultimately leads to great videos that you enjoy.

I want someone here with me in Colorado

to help me film and edit projects in the shop,

and I really wanna hire a producer and a camera operator

to do factory tours with me.

Plus, starting factory tours again means traveling more.

And the economics of travel

have changed a lot in the past few years.

Not to mention I'm not living in China anymore.

And (Scotty sighs) well all of this costs money.

So I need your help.

I'm starting a Patreon.

It'll help me focus on engineering and storytelling,

and it'll make me less dependent

on stressing out about brand deals

to support me and the rest of the Strange Parts team.

I'm sure you already know the deal with Patreon.

You give a few bucks to support me and Strange Parts

and you get some cool benefits like behind the scenes stuff.

Just to be clear, if things are tight right now

and you can't afford to support,

please don't sweat it, really.

I wanna mention some of the benefits

which you might find interesting.

So at the first tier you'll get behind the scenes access

to early cuts of my videos.

We'll share with you rough cuts that we're still working on

and you'll be able to give us feedback

and help us refine the videos.

Plus you'll be able to submit projects and story ideas

and vote on polls about what video or project

I should work on next.

For a few more bucks the next tier

gets access to design files from my projects,

whether that be circuit boards, CAD files,

3D printer files, or something else entirely.

You'll also get a Strange Parts T-shirt,

which right now is the only way

to get a Strange Parts T-shirt.

And at the top tier you'll get your name included

in a Strange Parts video.

It won't be that like fast scrolling

list of a bunch of names, I don't think anybody reads those.

I wanna do something cooler.

It'll be an Easter egg

hidden somewhere in the B-roll or the background of a shot.

And I'm only gonna do one or maybe a few max per video,

starting with whoever's been a patron in the longest.

So sign up now if you'd like your name in a video.

You'll also get a Strange Parts hoodie.

And again, this is the only way

to get a Strange Parts hoodie.

Now, you might be asking,

Scotty you've been recently talking

about putting videos on Nebula,

are you still gonna be doing that?

And the answer is yes.

And here's the distinction.

So think of Nebula like Netflix.

It's where I'll put finished videos,

both videos that appear on YouTube

but without any ads or sponsors.

But also exclusive videos that I make just for Nebula.

Patreon is different.

It's where you get access to behind the scenes stuff

before things are finished,

whether they're going up on YouTube or Nebula,

or maybe even things that never see the light of day,

and there are more than a few of those.

I love Nebula too, but Patreon allows me to do things

that I can't do on Nebula and vice versa.

So you can sign up to Nebula in addition to Patreon,

or you can do one or the other or neither.

Both really help me keep Strange Parts running,

so no worries if only one appeals to you.

So if you'd like to support me and Strange Parts

you can go to patreon.com/strangeparts,

or you can click on the link down in the description.

I'm really excited about the year to come,

and I hope you'll join me.

And finally, I wanna give a quick shout out to Cognitive FX.

They're not paying me to say this,

my obligation to them for my treatment

ended a long time ago.

But if you've had a concussion,

whether it's recent or even if it's been decades

and you're still feeling the effects,

please reach out to them.

I really really believe in their treatment,

and I'm proof that it works.

You can schedule a 30 minute phone call with them for free

to see if you're a good fit for their treatment.

And if you've had a concussion recently,

they have a second newer clinic that most insurance covers.

And lastly, if you're having cognitive symptoms

from long COVID you should also reach out to them.

It turns out that a lot of the symptoms of long COVID

are very similar to concussion symptoms,

and they're piloting a new treatment protocol

that is showing great results so far.

I put links to both clinics in the description below.

Please let them know that I sent you.

And take care of yourself and that brain of yours.

You won't know what it means to you until it's gone.