Originally Posted by Concussed Scientist

Hi fkd5322,
You have said that the headaches feel as though your brain is hurting. That is what PCS feels like to me also - perhaps because it is the brain that is hurting.

What it does not feel like to me is muscle tension. I have had it suggested to me that muscle tension in the scalp is the reason. Wouldn't I be able to feel that? There are sensory nerves in the scalp. So, why do I feel that everything in my scalp is relaxed.

When I first wake up in the morning and also during the last part of the night, that is my worst time. Wouldn't that be the time when muscles are the most relaxed? That would also apply to the eye muscles.

So, I don't buy muscle tension causing such profound symptoms. I know that the functioning of my brain has been affected and that can't be caused by muscle tension.

Regarding the neck: a trauma could definitely cause neck problems and these might be aleviated to some extent by reducing muscle tension. So, that might be worth pursuing. However, I have tried several physiotherapists and their conclusion is that the long-term problems that I have are not due to anything in the neck that can be fixed by physiotherapy. I think that the problems that I have are neurological and they aren't going to be fixed by physio.

However, that said, I do think that especially in the early stages of recovery, you might as well do everything that you can to reduce all aspects of your injuries. Just because there might be longer-term neurological problems that can't be fixed that does not stop you from getting some therapy that might help some of the minor problems. Let's get rid of as many problems as we can. And I do think that it is good to have a plan of action, even if some things on the plan will eventually turn out to be not of that much benefit. Perhaps we needed to try them anyway.

I guess each person will have to decide whether a particular therapy is making enough of a difference to make it worthwhile.

Best of luck,
CS