I've had lots of problems with neck and shoulder tension/spasm. I found relief with a Physical Therapist using myofascial release techniques.

As others have said, a concussion also impacts the neck and shoulders since the head is connected to them. These problems are often left undiagnosed. It is odd that medical professionals are so prone to forget this basic anatomy.

You said, <Her neck/shoulder muscles get tight/stiff/pain if she is under stress or pushes herself too much when she is fatigued.>

This is also a good way to receive information from the brain/body. She may need your help is determining when she needs to slow down or stop and activity. The best skill to learn after a PCS causing concussion is when to limit effort/stress. You can help her by watching her eyes and facial expressions. You will likely notice her starting to get spacey eyed.

She needs to learn to live with her current brain condition before she can give it the rest to try to recover to her previous brain condition. Every time she over does it, she had gone backwards a few days in her recovery. She needs to learn how to avoid these over stress situations so she can link as many good days together as possible.

Think of her brain as a strained muscle. If she keeps re-straining it, it will never get a chance to heal.


Give her your explicit permission to slow down and rest. You may even need to make an effort to prevent her from over-doing it. You efforts will be rewarded with her improvement. The improvement will likely be very slow at first. As she get consistent at not over-doing it, her healing may speed up.

Do not be tempted to return to previous levels of activity prematurely.

Time may heal most wounds, but it takes lots of time to partially heal brain injuries.

My best to you