Confused
 

Today is 9 weeks since I hit my head. As some of you may know I started experiencing symptoms (headache, noise sensitivity, fatigue, poor concentration, anxiety) roughly a week after but was ignorant and tried to push through. After learning the hard way and seeking advice on here I have learnt so much and believe this forum is the reason I have made steps towards recovery. I cut alcohol, exercise and tried to rest as much as possible.

At week 7 my doctor prescribed me 10 mg Amitriptyline. I don't know if its a coincidence but since then my noise sensitivity has reduced to almost nothing and the only symptoms I am left with is headaches. I've never really experienced much neck pain since my injury but after reading on here about tension in the neck linked to headaches, I decided to go to a physio therapist.

The physio didn't find an injury but said I have a lot of tension in the upper trapezius. I have been doing home exercises since and my headaches have decreased dramatically. I still have like a pressure in my head every day but it is very mild.

Basically I am confused because I don't know what the issue is. Did I have post concussion to begin with and now a neck injury is disguised as PCS? But I never really had much neck pain to begin with and don't seem to have many upper spine injury symptoms apart from headaches and tension at the back of head and neck. Also chiropractors here aren't very trustworthy and will probably just want to do aggressive manipulations which i don't think would be helpful.

I am going to continue with exercises and medication and hopefully things will improve but I just don't want to keep resting so much if i don't actually need to. Yesterday I actually did a 2 hour presentation which I thought would really trigger my symptoms but I only really had a mild headache afterwards at the back of my head. I am sorry if im sounding impatient and I know some of you have long term battles with pcs but I just don't know where I'm at.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Sounds like you are making good progress.

For some perspective, 9 weeks is not a long time in the TBI/PCS world. Most mTBI patients do heal. The fact that you were able to give a two hour presentation without major problems is encouraging.

I believe that my progress was helped by getting back involved with work and a normal life. If you can pursue normal activates (cognitive as well as physical) without exacerbating any symptoms I would encourage you to continue to do so. Your brain will tell you if you are doing too much.

Best to you as you continue to recover.

Thankyou. I believe I am too. My triggers have changed since my injury. I can do cognitive tasks now without any symptoms flaring up and even drank alcohol the other night and felt fine afterwards. I'm still getting tension and pain near the top of my neck though and tension headaches around the back of my head.

I have come to the conclusion that maybe my pcs has resolved and im left with some kind of neck injury. But I don't know how im supposed to tackle this. Will it resolve with good posture and gentle stretching? Im not sure a scan with show such a injury.

Yes, I'd hold off going to a chiropractor for now at least, neck area is so delicate.

Keep an eye on your neck, sometimes a neck injury doesn't show up straight away, I had a severe concussion and injuries including whiplash, terrible pain actually started about 5 months afterwards, had the stiffness and pain all the time in my neck but it really flared up later, found out through an MRI it's a herniated disc in my neck.

Yes, make sure you are practicing good posture and gentle stretching (gentle! :)
but if you find things getting worse go see your Dr right away because there night be something else going on with your neck.

I'd keep going with your normal life and see how it goes.

Feel better...

So I saw a new physio today and i feel amazing. Finally found someone who actually fills me with confidence. He found straight away a trigger point in my neck and I could feel the tension and pain radiate around my head. He massaged it for a while and also manipulated my neck and bit. He thinks he can reduce the tension in a few sessions. He thinks this is contributing towards my headaches which remains my last symptom.

Thankyou for the advice. I've been icing since I've got home from pt.