Hello everyone, I (30f) am, once again, asking Reddit for advice due to my paranoia of looking like a hypochondriac to my doctor. I already have a weird medical history (ITP, Anemia, NAFL). For over a decade I’ve had a dent on the back of my skull. I mean a SKULL indentation. I’ve palpated the area and can tell it’s not a soft tissue indentation. There is a prominent ridge on the left of my Sagittal suture where the dent dips down right at the center of my skull deeper than average, then curves back up at a slightly less prominent angle. Basically one side is slightly higher than the other. It’s about 4in long and 3 in wide. It isn’t what I would call painful, but the center is tender to where I am afraid to press on it. My stomach turns thinking about is as though I’ll accidentally crack my skull like an egg. The spot where the ridge is highest is the most tender to touch and I have a slight bit of hair thinning there. I can’t provide a photo cause of my hair.
I’ve brought it up to numerous people in the past and many refer to the posterior fontanelle dent from babies being left on their backs for too long. I thought that could explain it until my massage therapy instructor felt it, and she was visibly shocked by the dent. Since then, when I have someone feel the back of my head, they recoil or are taken aback. (I’m weird and WILL insist people feel it) Now, I never thought much of it. I figured maybe my skull is weird. Whatever. Fun ice breaker. But I recently brought it up to my mom (whom I should have brought it up to in the first place) and she said the same about the fontanelle-but when she felt the dent she gasped and said that it wasn’t there when I was a baby. She was adamant that she had never felt or seen it before and would know considering I didn’t have a full head of hair till I was 3, and she used to brush my hair all the time as a child. This is what has lead me here. If my own mother is surprised at this dent and the prominence of it, I think I’m right to be concerned, right? It feels weird and always has, but I figured it was nothing. Now I wonder if it is the result of a head injury. The only possibility I can recall is when I was bucked off a horse at 12yrs old. I was flung up into the air and landed flat on my back, I can’t remember hitting my head. I was wearing a helmet thankfully, but I have no recollection of the time in between the landing and “waking up” in the living room. I only remember the fall, then being in our living room sitting up hugging a pillow. I cried because I had no idea how I got there. The fear of the fall hit me like it was delayed. My mom and our neighbor (who was a nurse) told me I had been responsive to their questions and requests. I moved my limbs, I got up and walked. So they assumed I was fine. I wasn’t taken to the hospital because I didn’t have health insurance. I figured since I was “fine” that the helmet did its job. Now I wonder if I really did hit my head and despite the helmet, sustained an injury. So, this has been weighing on me heavily since my mom’s reaction. I don’t get headaches, but I have had memory issues, brain fog, fatigue, scalp tenderness on the dent, and irritability/mood swings since I was a teenager. I’ve noticed my memory is getting worse, and severe executive dysfunction. Am I being paranoid? Should I ask my primary doctor about this? I’ve had so many medical issues this past year that I fear my doctor will think I have munchhausen syndrome and brush me off. It’s stupid but I went from being healthy to being in the ER with ITP, Anemia, IBS, and Fatty liver. I don’t want to be that patient but I also am terrified of NOT knowing. How can I bring this up without seeming nuts?