Upper cervical injury masked as PCS
 

Hi all,

One year ago, I had some concussions/whiplashs that manifested in sound & light sensitivity. The symptoms would come and go and is aggravated by prolonged sitting caused by software engineering jobs.

The initial diagnosis was mixed (some docs think there's no concussion some think there is). My neck always felt strange though, like there is a clicking sound. Finally had a MRI done in November and it seems that I injured the muscle in the anterior neck so C1 and C2 are always compressed against the base of the skull.

Started seeing a PT in Bellevue about this who doesn't think I really ever had a concussion (his clinic also treats contact sports athletes for concussions) and he thinks I have a upper cervical injury instead. Two weeks after following his very subtle stretches, I can finally exercise again. I still have to be careful a bit with certain impacts (right Thai kick on the heavy bag) because it seems to dislodge the upper cervical region.

Just my 2 cents in case some people have upper cervical injury masking as a brain injury. Hope it helps somebody!

I agree, anytime the head or upper body gets a good hit or knock the c1 c2 can become misaligned.

Even just a small misalignment ( that won't really show on most imaging) can affect your body & whole alignment.. so always good to get that checked out, usually by a specially trained chiropractor.

www.upcspine.com has good info about this.

I have been saying this on NT for years. I think the idea that these are upper cervical injuries without a concussion is stretching it. It may be the case in a few but the energy required to injury the upper neck would likely also jar the brain. The brain injury portion may recover spontaneously leaving concussion like symptoms due to the upper neck injury. Upper neck injuries can cause neurological deficits just like head impacts.

Maybe some day there will be a protocol that looks at the upper cervical vertebra in such a way that the fine damage becomes noticeable. Upper cervical chiros have some specialized ways of examining the cervical vertebra. The medical profession needs to use imaging that is just as good. Many here on NT have had cervical CT Scans and MRI's without any injuries noted. I bet the same images would show injuries if the examiner was better skilled.

Please explain more about the treatment...
 

I also had a concussion and neck injury and suffer from migraines. I get manipulation in pt but they concentrate on the lower neck\trap area not above that. Please expalin more about the treatment

thanks

John, could you please post a detailed description of the stretches he is having you do?