Can't Even Lay on Pillow - Head Hurts So Badly
 

I don't get headaches often anymore. I have a constant feeling of pressure in my headache, along with numerous other painful symptoms (nerve pain, etc.), but headaches are rare for me.

Today, my right eye (the side I fell and hit my head) began hurting badly. I was an hour away from home, so I had to ignore it and push through.

When I got home, I experienced the worst headache I've had in months. It was so painful that I couldn't even lay on my pillow. The headache was in my eye, jaw, and back of my head. Also the top of my scalp.

Laying on the pillow was extremely painful. I felt like the back of my head (the part behind my hair and near my ears) was covered in bruises.

I was able to sleep for a couple hours and woke up feeling slightly better, but I'm still in a lot of pain.

I did some neck stretches, and those seemed to help decrease the pain significantly. My neck popped loudly several times during the stretches, and each pop seemed to bring more relief.

Does anybody else ever get headaches like this? I am thinking maybe this was all caused by my neck? I haven't had a chance to see a chiropractor yet. I keep getting scared that he will make things worse and end up rescheduling.

MWS,

It sounds like you may be having neck muscle spasms due to an upper neck injury. A chiro may help if the treatment is gentle. The more aggressive treatments are a risk in my opinion. It is important to be disciplined with neck and head position during rest and sleep. Lifting or straining moves such as when lifting or twisting need to be done with careful attention to spine and neck position. Try to start every twisting move from your shoulders. Quick head turns can be problematic.

Did you try icing your neck ?

Ouch
 

Have you had a proper examination of your neck? TBI and whiplash are often a combo pack.

Have you tried putting ice on the back of your neck? I find that helps a bit, sometimes.

Hang in there.

I agree with everyone else. Have your neck checked!

I have horrible spasming and take a daily med and also have lidocaine injections every 6 weeks to help control the spasming, which greatly reduced my frequency of migraines. Most of my headaches come from my neck, have you tried ice? This has really helped me when things get really bad.

Thanks, guys. I appreciate all of the advice.

I used to ice my neck daily but kind of forgot all about it when the headaches went away for a month or two. I am going to start again and see if that helps. My neck doesn't hurt unless I touch it, and then it feels incredibly painful - which is another reason I forgot that it could be injured.

Now that I think about it, I did do a lot of heavy lifting today. I helped fill my kids' sandbox and also carried around a bag of groceries because we shopped at the farmer's market (so no shopping cart). I wonder if that made it all worse. I was thinking it was the weather, but it was probably a combination of things.

Should I only be icing my neck and not the part of my head where the pain actually is (the back of my head and eye)?

I bet the lifting and carrying did you in. It is amazing how tensing shoulder muscles can cause muscles in the neck to tighten up.

Some massage and ice should help.

When my head hurts like that, I take icy hot rub and dab ( more like shovel lol) it on my scalp, and on my forehead and temples, then I lay down with towels on my pillow. Not sure what might help you, but can't hurt.