Brand new to the forum and really hoping someone may be able to relate, or help with my new health condition.

Summary of events

May 2013 - Involved in motorcycle accident. Hit a median at 80km/h. Don't remember anything and was knocked out. Lost vision 80% for around 10 minutes on the way to hospital via ambulance. CT scan, Xrays revealed no brain damage, broken bones just some good road rash on the back and concussion.

Came home early morning and experienced a body convulsion (uncontrollable shakes), yet still fully conscious. Slept it off and felt somewhat OK next day.

June 2013 - concussion symptoms subside and I resume regular routine (work, gym, tennis, running, etc) with no side effects. I feel completely fine at this point.

Aug 2, 2013 - Had 4-5 drinks with friends over a 6 hour period. Wake up around 5AM to urinate. Turn around and last thing I remember is blacking out and losing control of balance. Wake up on floor in blood and sore head. Vomit profusely for 10 minutes. Look in mirror and see signs of a broken nose, rug burn on top right of forehead and banged up face, suggesting I feel over from a standing position and likely slammed my head in to the door frame and then rug floor.

Aug 4, 2013 - Paramedics called. Body started convulsing, feeling of going to pass out and very unwell, panicked feeling, yet still fully conscious. Back in hospital with complaints of feeling dizzy, nauseous, vision problems, ringing in ears and lack of balance. They complete another CT. No signs of brain damage. Suspected a second severe concussion prior to the first fully healing and that I likely have PCS that will last 3-6 months however referred to urgent neurology.

Sept, 2013 - See a neurologist. Orders a brain wave test, MRI (yet to be completed), blood work and 24 hr holter monitor test. I've completed all aside from MRI and blood work and have an appt next week to review with GP, although brain wave tech told me that things looked normal, no signs of epilepsy. Passed all routine brain tests at neuro (finger to pen, etc).

Late Sept, 2013 - Tested for BPPV at local office (dislodged crystals in ear canal that may contribute to vertigo). Tested negative.

Since then I've been seeing a physiotherapist 2 times per week for 2 months (covered by auto insurance, thank god) for sore and painful neck and concussion symptoms. Have made temporary improvement with dizziness and neck pain, but comes back after a couple of days of no physio. Currently seeing minimal improvement and symptoms still on strong and quickly.

Primary Lingering Symptoms

-Ringing in ears all day every day
-Dizziness in public settings (ambient noise, artificial lighting and mental focus set it off)
-Random head pain (not intense)
-Sporadic blurred vision
-Confused feeling when over exerted. I sometimes slip in to an extremely clouded state of mind, get confused and sometimes get disoriented. Lose train of thought.
-Neck pain and stiffness - I believe I have whiplash from the fall. Xray was negative on bone damage (wondering if an OTC anti inflammatory would help? May also help with dizziness? Suggestions appreciated).


Current Treatment

-Physio 2 -3 days per week
-Complex B12 vitamin dails
-2 to 4 tsp flax seed oil daily providing 5-10g omega 3 (is fish oil a better choice?)
-Reduced workload and taking it easy most days.
-A ton of water.

What's odd is that most days I'm able to feel OK at home in peace and quiet, but if I try to go in to my office, or go on a client meeting I get dizzy and feel like passing out. I've been unable to work at even 50% for 2.5 months now and fearing for my job security. Currently on short term disability and exploring long term disability if symptoms persist.

ANY help or input from people, or professionals with experience with similar symptoms would be EXTREMELY appreciated as I'm starting to become very scared, anxious and losing hope that things will resolve any time soon. I live alone, single father and have had to stop taking my child over night as its too much and brings symptoms on. I just want regular life back before losing everything!

Thank you if you made it through reading all of this.

Had a similar experience...it is hell.

Two quick points:

1) major breakthrough was seeing a neuro-opthamologist...many mtbi s have damage to visual processing. It is damage to the brain stem...similar to auditory processing provblems, balance, etc.

2) you will SLOWLY get better. It is hard to believe that your nightmare will end....it will but no one can predict when. You have to go hour by hour and rest as much as you can. Sounds like you are still in the acute phase so having symptoms is a sign you have done too much.

Hang in there!!!

I hear you and know how you feel.
I'm also new, almost 7 weeks from injury and have not seen much progress. Dizzy, nauseous and head issues, headache/pressure/tingling. I also see most of my symptoms/issues at work.
Stay away from any impact activities like running and tennis until your symptoms go away and give yourself a good long grace period from that point on.
Anxiety can kick in and make matters worse. Alcohol is supposedly not good while recovering.
I try not to worry and be patient. It takes time.
Good luck and I hope you get better quick.

randomguy,

What kind of treatments is the physiotherapist doing ?

What kind of therapy for your neck ?

There is no physiotherapist treatment for concussion symptoms.

Knowing what is being done helps us understand better how to help you.

BTW, You do have brain damage, just not the kind that shows up on MRI's or CT's. A concussion is brain damage.

My best to you.

Physio is treating neck pain/stiffness and although they can't directly treat concussion symptoms (per say), it certainly has an indirect impact and I notice that the dizziness and neck pain subsides to about 30% of that prior to walking in, however temporary and if I go 2-3 days without treatment I'm back to square one.

I have another appt with my GP on Wed and wondering if a Chiropractor referral would be something to explore (covered by auto insurance as well)? I've read several articles online explaining the association of the neck (upper cervical) to vertigo and dizzy like symptoms if damaged and a lot of cases can apparently be corrected with treatment, if in fact that's what the issue is.

I'm too new to post links, but search*edit* which elaborates more on the neck part. Don't know how reliable this is, but an example of what I've read.

I suspect in my case that my primary issue is 2 severe concussions in a short period of time and mostly PCS symptoms, but if I can experience some relief seeking various treatment and covered by my auto insurance company, I'd be crazy not to explore options, as long as they don't make me worse.

What specifically is the physio doing for your neck ? Range of motion exercises, spinal manipulations, muscle massage/work, traction, pressure point work, ?

We routinely suggest looking into an assessment by an Upper Cervical Chiro. Check out www.nucca.org and www.atlasorthagonal.org for a specialist near you.

Some general chiros claim to have upper cervical skills but I would be very cautious. The twist the head and pop the neck can be far to aggressive.

It also helps to learn posture disciplines. An injured neck will not heal without the patient taking steps to maintain proper posture, especially during rest and sleep. Icing the injured area is also good to help reduce inflammation.

Hope you can find a good upper cervical chiro.

My best to you.

After doing more research on upper cervical adjustments, I'm somewhat scared. Seems to be a sensitive area. Actually just read an article of a local woman being paralyzed but such treatment! I'm sure this is a 1 out of a 100 million scenario, but scary nonetheless.

I guess I'll have to see what my GP thinks about chiro.

As of now, physio is doing some mid neck message and gentle muscle manipulation to reduce pain/discomfort. We've been getting a little more aggressive with treatment and she's been moving my head and using my spine as an axis in a way that seems to be helping (not sure if this is manipulation). To be quite honest, this is all still very new to me. My therapist just started doing this new treatment for me a couple of sessions ago and seems to be working the best. Hoping more time will tell.

As of now, I picked up a nondrowsy version of Gravol with the primary ingredient being Ginger Root. I took it once yesterday and seemed to help somewhat. Will give it more time and update here, as it would be nice to take something consistently without getting drowsy 45 min after.

Paralysis after a chiro treatment is so rare as to be a statistical anomaly. Chiros pay far less for malpractice insurance than MD's.

Upper cervical chiro is a specialty in chiropractic that usually takes 2 years or more of training and internship beyond the chiro DC basics. The treatments are very mild, sort of like a gentle touch.

The process usually includes a very special set of x-rays to measure the small misalignments.

I would not base a decision about chiro on the comments of a GP. They are predisposed to use medicines to treat symptoms.

My best to you.

Hello.

Sorry to hear what happened. I know that you will improve!

Backstory: I was surfing, duckdived and surfaced, fiberglass kayaker rode the next wave into my head. Whiplash all the way back underwater. That was november 09. Pretty bad PCS. Then 7 months PT for neck.

2 years later surfed again and reinjured my neck PT 5 more months If i remember right.

General thoughts: neck issues are huge! Not everyone here has them, I didn't really believe that most of my problems; headaches, etc. were related to the neck but they are.

I learned. Never ever do anything to aggravate your neck! Ever! Time will heal it. Once you are better with your physical therapy you can do light stretching.

Keep it loose so it doesn't spasm and keep it as flexible as possible over time. Heat will relax the muscles, I still use the heating pad and put it up to the bottom of my head to include the muscles that go over your head.

Ice helps some people with the pain, but in my case it would make it worse due to spasms. Your muscle memory will easily go back into trauma mode so it is easy to reinjure your neck, just be careful.

Other than that, I was once at the same place as you looking for something to speed up the process. I never regretted passing on the neck manipulation.

Hang in there! Less is more for necks, your Physiotherapy sounds just what you need. I can tell because the symptoms are resolving after. That is a huge indicator that your neck is contributing to your symptoms. Once I started gentle PT, it was very gentle, it got better for me.

For me, I didn't want to get my neck adjusted. I just learned to listen to that gut feeling. I even posted a thread just like yours before and learned about the risks. Yes, a stroke is very unlikely but reinjuring your neck is not. No one wants to go backwards with their symptoms, your ligaments and muscles just need rest.

Take care.In mho, you should wait longer before trying anything big, just looking at your history it hasn't been too long. I know it feels like forever but it is too soon to do anything drastic. Plus, there will always be the option to try something later.

I am also doing physio for the neck. Accupuncture as well. have passed in the chiro. I am risk averse now!