Hi guys, I found something useful worth looking into for PCS. I know I should have posted this at its appropriate place but I thought its deserves quick attention and maybe someone can be benefit from this article

*admin edit for copy /paste of a copyright article*

adding link http://necksecret.com/Post-Concussion_Syndrome.html

Can someone please tell me how a neck injury is diagnosed? Can a conventional neck MRI diagnose a neck injury or there is some other technique?

Atlas Orthagonal and NUCCA are similar systems. Many of us have been suggesting upper neck issues. Finding a good AO or NUCCA chiro can be a challenge. MRI's alone will not diagnose these subtle injuries.

I have been talking about the need for good sleep and resting posture. I know that it is important because I have experienced improvements myself. The subtle upper neck injuries treated by a AO or NUCCA chiro will not heal without disciplined posture.

Insurance will usually not cover the diagnostics part of AO or NUCCA. Be prepared for up to $600 in diagnostics/x-rays, etc.

Thank you Mark for your useful insight. Finding a good chiro would be even more difficult for me as I am from third world and we have limited options beyond general common diagnosis like CT or MRI. I hope if neck is the case, it gradually gets better as I don't have any way to get my neck checked as I know whatever help I have at my hand right now would right away disagree that it could be my neck!

Thanks Mark & Galaxy. Mark, where do you recommend we begin if we want to look into neck issues? I have good mobility in my neck and not dramatically more tension than before the accident in my neck and shoulders.

Start with a chiropracter? Or....what kind of doctor?

Thank you

As the article and my comments say, a NUCCA or Atlas Orthagonal chiropractor is a good start.

Upper neck injuries are often symptom free except for the PCS symptoms. There may be tenderness behind the ears where muscles may be spasming.

Usual PT and other range of motion exams and such are not valid at denying an upper neck injury. Upper neck injuries are very subtle.

Mine was only symptomatic with head aches and breathing interruptions, neither of which seemed to have any connection to my upper neck. It was only after resolving the upper neck issues that those symptoms were reduced or eliminated.

A big part of my improvements came from learning to sleep on my back with my head in a straight posture.

It's a long story about how I learned these issues with my neck. Suffice it to say, I would have told you my neck was fine, too.

Just a reminder that if a site has Copyright at the bottom of their pages we are not allowed to have copy/paste here as we get legal letters to take down such posts for copyright infringement.
It is also not allowed to quote even a snippet from an article without citing the author and source!

I have removed the copy/paste and added a link to the article

I'm curious Mark, how did you learn to sleep on your back with your head in a straight posture? After starting NUCCA treatment, I broke my habit of sleeping on my stomach, which took some effort and cost me weeks of solid sleep. Now I can sleep pretty comfortably on my sides and on my back, but usually my head isn't absolutely straight when I'm on my back, but tilted slightly to one side or the other.

I've been holding my alignment for longer periods of time now (after months of not holding it from week to week), and took this to mean that something positive is happening, and that my sleeping posture is OK. Were you not holding your alignment before you switched to back sleeping, as is that what allowed the adjustments to hold? Or were you holding your alignments but noticed additional improvement after switching to back sleeping?

I guess I'm just a little confused on just what the relationship is between holding alignments for longer periods of time and the actual healing taking place.

For me, the back sleeping solved two issues. First, If I slept with my neck bent forward or to the side, I would have episodes of Central Sleep Apnea. I learned to use a pillow that does not lift my head. I curl it up so I have it next to my right cheek. This holds my head from rolling my head too far to the right.

Second, over time, my neck healed so I have more tolerance for other neck positions. I never finished NUCCA treatments. The NUCCA chiro had some billing issues that I could not deal with. But, the neck improvements have allowed me to experience far fewer Central Apnea episodes.

I still sleep on my back as much as possible. It is better for my shoulders.

Thanks for the reply. I've got one more question unrelated to NUCCA but related to your comment about sleep. I've read that central sleep apnea sometimes comes on after brain injuries. I had sleep issues early on after the injury in terms of difficulty falling asleep, and difficulty falling back asleep after waking up (which I usually do to go to the bathroom at least once a night), as well as waking up very early.

Now I've pretty much gotten sleep under control, and usually sleep, or am in bed, 9 hours a night, waking up once or twice, which wasn't unusual for me before the injury. I find that I don't feel terribly well rested when I wake up, and have bags under my eyes which I didn't used to have (even early on after the injury). I'm not excessively tired during the day, although do have bouts of fatigue. I guess I'm wondering if central sleep apnea might be an explanation for this? It seems unlikely to me, but I'm curious if there are any ways of telling other than a full blown sleep study?

I figure I'm not sleeping as well because I'm not as active as I used to be, and perhaps lexapro is messing with my sleep too, as I started to notice the bags after I started taking it.