Why You Feel “Off” in Grocery Stores Months After a Concussion
If grocery stores make you dizzy, foggy, or overwhelmed long after a concussion, you’re not imagining it. Bright lights, busy shelves, moving people, and visual patterns all at once can overload a system that’s still recalibrating.
What’s really happening
After a concussion, the brain’s visual–vestibular integration (how your eyes and inner ears work together) can remain inefficient for months. In a grocery aisle:
Your eyes see shelves and patterns moving past you
Your inner ears sense your head and body motion
Your brain has to merge these signals quickly and filter out what’s irrelevant
If this integration is off, you can feel dizzy, unstable, head-pressured, or mentally drained. Research shows people with persistent post-concussion symptoms are more sensitive to visual motion, patterned environments, and sensory load than before injury.
Why grocery stores are a perfect trigger
Fluorescent lighting and glare
High-contrast, repetitive packaging patterns
Unpredictable movement around you
Sound, light, and motion happening together
This combination can create visual motion sensitivity and sensory overload, especially when attention and filtering are still recovering.
What people often say
“The floor feels like it’s moving.”
“I get dizzy just looking down the aisle.”
“I feel foggy and want to leave quickly.”
These are classic signs of a system that’s still adapting, not weakness.
What helps
The most effective approach is progressive post-concussion rehabilitation that retrains the brain’s tolerance to motion, visual input, and sensory complexity. This often includes:
Gaze stabilization exercises to steady vision during head movement
Visual–vestibular integration training to improve motion tolerance while standing and walking
Gradual exposure to visually busy environments in a controlled way
Breathing and pacing strategies to calm the nervous system during overload
Frequent breaks during visually demanding tasks
Bottom line
Feeling “off” in busy stores months after a concussion is common and treatable. With targeted rehab and pacing, your brain can relearn how to handle visual motion and sensory complexity comfortably again.
References:
Gordon, C. R., Do, T., & Melvill, R. (2009). Vestibular and oculomotor impairment after concussion in adolescents. Journal of Pediatric Neurology, 7(3), 251–260.
Pan, T., Wäljas, M., Hämäläinen, P., & Iverson, G. L. (2016). Post-concussion symptoms and functional outcomes after mild traumatic brain injury. Journal of Neurotrauma, 33(22), 1718–1726.
Schmidt, J., Cohen, B., & Fregni, F. (2017). Visual motion sensitivity after concussion: Mechanisms and implications. Brain Injury, 31(5), 621–631.
