Should I get an MRI? Questions to ask family MD?
 

I am on week 5 post-injury. I have been doing better - on certain days I feel quite a bit better - but I am not well yet (more like 70%). This week was better, and I was able to do some reasonably demanding cognitive work (from home, for 2-3 hours / day).

I met with a concussion specialist twice (in weeks 1 and 4). He was very positive and said the prognosis is good, but also said he couldn't provide a time estimate for recovery. Initially, he did not recommend a CT or MRI, saying that they tend not to reveal anything about concussions. In my second appointment, however, he said it might be worth doing an MRI, just to be on the safe side, but said I could wait a week or two to see how things go.

Well, it's been almost two weeks since that second appointment. I had one minor setback last week after overdoing it a bit, but I seem to be getting back on track (touch wood). However, I'm still having some symptoms:

- Ringing in ears (mainly noticeable at night)

- Waking a couple of times at night (often stressed or anxious, although to a lesser degree lately)

- Mild intermittent headaches

- Feeling a bit "off", still not fully myself, especially at night

- Physically cautious - again, this has lessened, but I still find myself taking things slowly and deliberately, not wanting to trigger symptoms (I've learned from experience). During the past couple of weeks, the longest walk I've taken has been about 10-15 mins, moving *very* slowly

So, my questions are:

- Should I get the MRI? (Despite the standard assurances, I'm concerned that there may be side effects, setting me back and causing my symptoms to flare up. Besides, I had an MRI on my knee years ago and it wasn't a pleasant experience - I imagine a head MRI will be worse)

- I'm meeting with my family doctor next week - what should I ask her? Should I seek a second opinion from another specialist, maybe another concussion specialist or a different specialist (such as an orthopedic doctor), to rule out any other causes / injuries?

You sound like classic PCS. An MRI will be a big expense and discomfort for very little gain.

I would suggest asking your family doctor about your neck. Determining if you have any residual neck injuries will be more worthwhile than an MRI of your brain. Your head aches could be from PCS or a neck injury causing spasming of the upper neck muscles that can then cause head aches.