Help from Australia
 

Hello,

I'm from Australia, and really hope that you are all safe and going through your recovery.

I had a neck strain over two year ago from hitting my head against a wall which caused a neck strain on my right side with a headache. I tried conservative treatment for 6-8 weeks after the injury and still felt the tension so went to see a chiropractor to try and resolve it.

I had a neck adjustment and felt very tired afterwards, and went home to sleep. The next day I woke up with a severe headache, feeling nausea, irritable, and feeling off centre. I was fighting the symptoms for the entire day, and then went to sleep at night time. I woke up throughout the night to my ears ringing.

Since then I suffer from severe headaches and migraines especially when in specific positions or performing or at least trying to perform exercise or sudden fast movements. The neck tension is still there and feel like I'm getting used to the pain instead of it being gone. My tinnitus continues and my headaches/migraines end up with pain settling around my forehead and my eyes (maybe more so left eye).

I would like to ask whether these symptoms can be reversed if it's linked to a neck injury, and if that is still the case for me having these symptoms going on two years now.

My MRI found subtle disc degeneration and bulging but nothing out of the ordinary for someone in my age group in my late thirties.

I'm hoping to ask your thoughts on what it may be.

Thanks for listening.

Could it have been a mild concussion , with whiplash?
those don't always show up clearly at first.
Did it seem like chiro was overly aggressive with the adjusting or less than attentive?

What was "conservative treatment for 6-8 weeks" - self care at home or PT?

Any mention of spasmed muscles or trigger points?
ultra sound, stim, massage?
low level laser or Light therapy?

Hey Jomar! I really appreciate your reply. The chiropractic treatment , at least to me, felt aggressive. I've had chiropractic treatments before and it never felt they way, from the adjustment to the effects felt afterwards.

My conservative treatment was pain relief medication and gentle neck stretches.

I went to a number of doctors around the time it happened and my doctor believes it's cervical radiculopathy and my physiotherapist believes it's central sensitisation.

I've only had and X Ray, CT Scan, and finally an MRI after quite some time of my cervical spine. Outside of their I did try another chiropractor about a year later, and a number of physiotherapists.

There was no mention of spasmed muscles or trigger points, or any other of the treatments you mentioned.

I believe I sustained some form of concussion/whiplash type injury, and not sure if this can be fully resolved.

This has truly left me in a bad place 😓

I also have cervogenical headaches/neuralgia, CSF leak, damaged nerves, or some type of inter-cranial tension as a possible cause from the injuries in my mind as well.

There is also upper cervical chiropractic , the top c1 c2 joint is a bit different than the rest of the neck/spinal and a specialized or advanced trained chiros can do that..

These websites have more details on how & what it is..
Up C Spine
symptoms list- Up C Spine - A New Approach - Sign / Symptom Checklist

National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association - NUCCA

I went down a similar path and tried to see a chiro 5 times a year later but didn't see the improvement. I'm also scared to go back due to the symptoms worsening and new symptoms appearing after that first adjustment.

Hi Lester

Welcome to NeuroTalk from Australia :).

I hope that you will find the forum helpful.

Best wishes.

Hi lesterknight008,

Just wanted to say Welcome!

I've never been to a chiropractor and don't feel qualified to give you any medical advice but two years is a long time to put up with severe headaches. I hope that you can find a way to solve this problem.

Welcome lesternight008. :Dancing-Chilli: Hope you find an answer. Doesn't sound great with the chiropractors.

Kitt