Intracranial pressure?
 

Hello, all - new here. My concussion occurred on 3/24, when I tripped and fell on a sidewalk on my way into work. I haven't been back yet, since my job as an oncology nurse is extremely mentally and physically demanding - our 12hr shifts are exhausting even in perfect health. The main issue I'm still having is intracranial pressure, which I haven't seen mentioned very often here. Is there anything specific I can do to relieve this? I'm on nortrypteline 25mg and I see my chiro 4X a week and go for rolfing (deep connective tissue massage) 1X per week. Thank you in advance for your replies!

I assume that you know that you have an issue with intracranial pressure because your neurologist told you so?

I think you need to definitely do what your neurologist advises about it.

Issues with intracranial pressure can have very serious implications and outcomes.

I would be very concerned if your chiro is doing "twist the head and pop the neck" adjustments. Plus, chiro 4 times a week sounds like you may be overdoing it. Add Rolfing to the mix and you are beating your body up pretty bad. Maybe a more gentle massage.

Actually, I have had many great healer chiros and none would allow me to have Rolfing done. It is just too aggressive. Plus, the tissue trauma from Rolfing could be overwhelming your body's ability to detoxify leaving your brain in a toxic condition.

Do either chiro or Rolfer tell you to ice when you get home? You upper neck likely needs a couple weeks of routine icing.

As EsthersDoll said, How do you know you have ICP?

My best to you.

I agree with Mark about the chiro. Also make sure that EVERY practitioner knows what the others are doing. Especially keep your neurologist informed about all the things you're doing.

Perhaps wrong term
 

Thanks to all for your feedback! Perhaps I'm using the wrong term re intracranial pressure. I was using it to describe the pressure/tightness I feel in my head with or without a headache. Yes, my neurologist at my large university setting does know about my chiropractic treatment and approves of it. It comprises 15 mins of electronic stimulation with an ice pack on my neck, 20 mins of ultrasound on my neck and mild adjustments. I don't want to jinx myself, but all of the sudden, I've had 4 symptom free days in a row! Is it possible symptoms to stop all at once? Thanks again!

Some electrical treatments really do work well to speed healing.

I had IFc electrostim and ultrasound for a painful tendon injury, and within 3 visits at PT the pain decreased dramatically.

IFc is typically used with an ice pack like you describe. So yes, done correctly you may see really wonderful results.

IFc is inferential current, which is occillating, unlike TENs. It is often used to speed soft tissue injury healing.

Hi just a note to say that I thought I had ICP as well because it feels like pressure all around your head including temples. After getting a head CT come up negative and researching headaches a bit, I know they are "tension" headaches. Neurologist didn't say I had ICP either.

The pressure that you feel is quite common. I've felt it myself and it's gotten better over time. I think the pressure I have felt has something to do with the fogginess that I feel inside my head - that trying to make myself think adds difficulty or a weird pressure to my thinking. It's not actually a physical feeling, but in my attempts to describe it, that's how I end up doing so. I actually feel tension headaches on one side of my head only and I know what they feel like for me and a feeling of "pressure" isn't it. But everyone is different. And every head injury is different.

When you feel it, you might want to try to relax and see if that helps. Or try to stop over-stimulating your brain. Hopefully, you'll eventually figure out what helps you to stop experiencing this feeling, or figure out what helps relieve it.

Having a problem with intracranial pressure (either low or high) is sometimes considered an emergency and can have horrible effects. It can even cause further damage to the brain beyond the initial trauma. It's rarely associated with concussion (about 3%). I actually had an increase in intracranial pressure for almost 6 months before it was finally discovered by my second neurologist, and I can tell you that the pain I felt was literally unbearable. Once the pressure was suspected, I was given a spinal tap and that is how it was finally relieved. I actually got much worse in those first six months because of it. However, if someone had "low" pressure then a spinal tap would be very bad for them.