I went back to the Designated Doctor last week, and received the letter yesterday with the box checked for a permanent imparment but an impairment rating of 0%.

What exactly does this mean?

I've already been forced back to work against my doctor's orders. I was told by my employer if I wasn't back at work my contract wouldn't be renewed next year, and as a teacher we only sign one year contracts in the state of Texas. This is also not a good time to be looking for a teaching job in my state since they are laying in teachers by the 1000's.

I'm trying to find coping mechanisms to get through my daily life, but the headaches just seem to be getting worse now that I am back in the classroom. I also seem to be holding my stress and tension in my neck, which makes the headaches worse.

I am currently taking 100 mg of Topomax, and I have prescriptions for 5mg of Ativan, 5 mg of Ambien, Treximet and a muscle relaxer (parafon forte) that are all taken as necessary. I don't like taking medications so I typically don't take the last 4 very often.

I am also going to a Chiropracter twice a week for adjustents to try and get my neck back in line from the fall. I felt relief after the first week, but the second week my doctor added in PT with stretches for my neck and I felt like I took 2 steps back. I have had a headache since Thursday with the culmination last night.

I layed in bed crying due to the pain from the headache after trying heat, cold, massage, bath, shower, pain patch, silence, dark, light music, and a combination of my medications. I had blurry vision, ringing in ears, and just felt completely lethargic. After finally falling asleep for a few hours I woke up this morning and the headache is slightly better, but definitely still there.

This leads me back to the original question of how do I get an impairment rating of 0% while I am still experiencing this much pain. It has been 9 months now since the original injury and I really felt like I was starting to see some small improvements in some aspects of my life. It is so frustrating when I take steps back!