return of symptoms after bad massage?
 

Hi, I haven't been on here for a while, as I had pretty much recovered from two mild concussions I had, the latest being when I was hit from behind in a car 8 months ago.
However on Friday I went for a massage to a new masseur and despite me asking her to be very gentle, she massaged my neck and head too hard and pretty soon after the massage, I started to get my old symptoms back ie fatigue, head ache, dizziness etc.
This kind of thing did happen to me once before, when I had to stop suddenly in the car and the 'relapse' only lasted for a week or so. I just rested and it went away.
I am really hoping that this is something similar. I spoke to my old, trusted masseur, who sadly now lives too far away for me to go to, and she said that she thought it would take another week for my system to settle down again, and that a masseur can certainly not do permanent damage, or damage the brain etc, but may have irritated the layer over the brain, hence the symptoms.
Has anyone else experienced anything similar?
Thanks

I am not satisfied with the 'may have irritated the layer over the brain' excuse. I am more concerned that the neck work was too intense. A masseur likely does not have the training to make the comments she made. Plus, an injured neck is a very delicate structure.

I would give it a week or two to settle down but not return to the same masseur again.

You need to be very protective of your head and neck. There is not such thing as No pain, No gain when it comes to your head and neck. Gentle treatments can effect the improvements you seek.

About 5 weeks into my recovery I told my doctor I was feeling great but I was having headaches in the evening that radiated from the middle of the back of my head around my ears. If I relaxed I could get the headaches to go away. It also felt like the muscles going up the back of my neck to the middle of the back of my head just wouldn't stop tensing. He said, "sounds like tension headaches" and shrugged his shoulders dismissively.

So I went to get a neck massage, hoping to release the muscles. She was gentle but I felt a little 'off' after the massage. But my neck was really loose and the muscles weren't stuck flexing any more.

Unfortunately, the next morning I was as dizzy as I had been after two weeks. It felt like I was back to square one.

I've recently learned that I have a neck injury which is what caused the dizziness, vertigo, headaches and migraines. I believe massage will be part of my therapy, but I probably did it too soon and for too long -- I scheduled an hour because I figured more is better. (My massage therapist only did 30 minutes on the neck and felt even that was a little too much -- the rest of the time was lower back).

You probably have a neck injury. Be careful and take it slow. A good physical therapist should be able to help.

Best of luck!