I got my results from the CT scan through a couple of days a go and it's clear! No tumours, lesions, or open fractures. Which is a relief. I know some get frustrated with a clear result, but I can only see the positive. Others here have not had a clear and have then had to go on with surgeries ect. My sympathies and well wishes to you.

Today I had a Dr apt to discuss results. I have:
-An mTBI (rather than lesser concussion)
-with trigemenel neplasia; causing my jaw to shift slightly, trouble eating and tongue pressing against left teeth. (it is bizzarre to look at my changed face, with this and the break to the nose and diff shape of left eye! Subtle though)
-I still have trouble with focus tracking in my left field of vision.
-The partial face paralysis is more on-going than I thought. When touched on the left side of my face it felt as if he had a glove on and I cannot wiggle my left ear (though apparently most people cannot wiggle them at all).
-During balance test, walking with toe to heel, I walked like someone who'd been on the lash all day and nearly fell over several times.
-on going speech problems
-on going motor issues, muscles contracting with any walking and joint pain
-It is likely that I've had axonal tearing, and damage/compression of the trigemnal nerves and possibly those in the ear and brain in injured area. My nerve fibres are left with raw, sensitive endings.
-on going pain (hardly a surprise what with above).

The main treatment is time to heal, and the patience to do so.

I've been refereed to a physical therapist, Dr agreed it wasnt a seletal ssue and that a dose of radiation from a shoulder xray isnt necessary/helpful. Dr approved of tennis ball on the wall exercises but said I'll need more intensive exercises. Whilst waiting, and with a bit of pushing, he's going to print off some and leave them with reception so i can start them asap. He also cautioned about inactivity, that it would make matters worse (though laughed at my quip that there's slim chance of that when your a single mum of a boistrous 7yo, who doesnt drive!) also cautioned not to over do it.

Also been refereed to a different neurologist with aim of seeing a neurophycologist who can help form an action plan to cope with symptoms. Also warned that the waiting list for speech therapy is very long, here, I mentioned that I had been practicing my poetry in private to help. This is good, though if any one has any tips I'm interested.

I'm to continue with 1000mg naproxin a day to help with brain swelling/inflammation of joints and will continue my own plan of good diet ect and research into how to grow new axons ect. I dont think the referrals will actually pan out into help, so any tips in these regards is appreciated. I'm also going to request a copy of my CT results, as I was warned that healed fractures would not be noted (its been 6 months...).

Hi there,

Sorry you're having so many problems from the particular injuries to your face, ear, eye and jaw. That would be awful. I recall another post vaguely where you were wondering about one of the neuralgias. What has the doctor suggested can be done if there is Trigeminal nerve damage? Don't forget there is a TN Forum here if you ever need it.

I'm totally confused (sorry , it's very early here ) about the part you wrote saying "Today I had a Dr apt to discuss results. I have:
-An mTBI (rather than lesser concussion)" yet your doctor has prescribed Naproxen for brain swelling/inflammation of joints.

Was it all done one side of your body that was injured? I hope the PT can help you.

About the "inactivity" comment. Years about doctors used to order total bed rest for certain injuries, especially spine problems and things like nerve compressions from spine problems. Now it's quite the opposite.

I wonder if you have access to an indoor heated pool in your area. They'd have to have them for the public there wouldn't they? That could be really helpful for getting gentle movement and keep all those muscles and bones working properly.

Take care.

hey Lara, I'm going to reca a bit and add detail becuase it's easier for me to forulate my reply Its going to get a bit long, sorry, but others may find it helpful. Below the line I'll detail about nerves ect.

28/7/14- I was kneeling on the floor reaching into the passanger side of a car to retrieve items. The car door was slammed, with a person's full force, shut onto my head. Lucily I flinched back slightly so my scull was not crushed between door and frame. The locking mechanism hit just above my left temple, the side of the door hit from top left of head down to jaw, the outer width to just behind my ear. I fell to the floor unconscious, to the right, my nose hitting side of car on the way.

I woke, was unable to walk properly, had blood and CSF ouring out of left ear. I collapsed, repeting same words many times. I then slipped into an unresponsive state. When I came to, at persistant waking, I started to wander: walking up and down the path many times. I continued to slip in and out of consciousness for next 12 hours.

Week 1: Slept a lot, only one word communication and action at prompts. contiued, though lessened, CSF from left ear. Blood in mouth each morning. Little memory.

1st month: Little memory, though became more aware and with lots of rest returned to relatively active routine. ICP became increasingly probelematic, split feeling of body, speech/moto probs...though I was not self-aware at this stage believeing I just had a consussion and cold.

2 month: ICP high, lots of pain. As son went back to school the level of activity/pressure worsened all symtoms greatly. Memory started to come bac and I started to realise how badly I hd been affected, before this I had been rationalising and compensating for behaviour. IE I didnt realise that I could not use my right arm properly, or had lessened range of movement until someone pointed it out. Vision disturbances and vertigo were very bad. Although CSF lea had stopped pouring, I would still get a tricle and a scabs of that and blood from my left ear canal. Sought medical help.

Diagnosed: Trigemenal neuroplasia, damage to 4th and 6th nerves, 20:20 vision but with focul problems. Partial face paralysis.

3rd and 4th month was much the same, with increasing awareness of issues and gradual improvement in cognitive, and refined motor skills. Started 1000mg of naproxin and this brought relief. Motor probs became more obvious, on right side of body.

__________________________________________________ _____________

Head injuries:

Concussion, sometimes accompanied by contusion (lump raised on scalp). Recovery 2-4 weeks.

mTBI, often accompanied by nerve damage, swelling, raised ICP and sometimes axonal tearing. Recovery 6-12 months.

TBI, accompanied by all of above but more severe, often with penetrating wounds, lesions, hemorrhage, herniation, destruction of grey/white matter ect Ranging from a bit worse than mTBI to mortality.

A person's age, health, lifestyle and underlying condidtions will affect how great effects in any. IE Neuro said as I have always been prone to migranes this will make recovery more painful.

Cascade of events:
Impact & initial damage > Subsequent swelling > impairment from strain of swelling//bodies healing response > axon regen > myelinin regen > (if pregnant or stem cell presence (?)) neuron regen

Nerves:

O-------------------------------------------------------E
Neuron> axons, coated in myelinin> nerve endings]
<flow of information>

Temporal region:

Around the temple and back of the ear is where the Trigemenal nerves exit the brain (central), from the Mekels cave, and becomes part of the face (peripheral). This nerve is the main nerve, though others also utilize this space and are connected in function, there is also a large artery here. The nerve slits into three branches.
1.opthalmic: around the eye
2. Mandibular: to/in the mouth
3. Maxillary: along the jaw.
Smaller branches also found behind the ear and in the sinus region.

In my injury the car's locking mechanism was first part to hit me, directly where the t.nerve exits the brain, bearing the force of the blow. The force was then distributed over all of these branches as the door side connected. I present with unilateral (all on one side) damage and although the med community views this as very rare (my Drs have never seen it) it makes sense given the incidence of injury. It is yet unclear whether the damage was just to the peripheral or also central: but given the motor dysfunction it seems likely there was some central trauma too.

Th T.nerve controls: facial sensation, mucus membranes, mastication, pain, tempertaure and contains proprioceptive fibres.

Trigeminal Neuroplasia- "The most painful condition"
Symptoms: Pain attacks lasting few seconds to few minutes, at any time. Difficulty chewing, controlling saliva, strong sense of hot or cold or lack there of. Migration of jaw toward injured side. Cold or wet sensations of the skin. Electrical sensations and strange tastes. Balance issues.

Here's a good link, though it is med lingo heavy. Its taken a while to get to grips with due to cognitive impairment, lack of good info or medical training ect but I like this one:

http://emedicine.medscape.com/articl...view#aw2aab6b2

The 4th and 6th nerves also exit in the temporal region.
4th, Trochlear: controls rotational movement of eyeball.
Symptoms: Each eye perceives separate visual fields, person has to compensate by tilting head to side with chin tucked in. Eye can drift.

6th, Abducens: controls outward movement of eye and distance focusing.
Symtoms: As above, double vision, person often looks towards effected side to compensate. Light sensitivity. Dizziness.
-often one of first effects from raised ICP as nerve comes from base of brain.

__________________________________________________ _______________

Motor Cortex

Here's a good, reader friendly link:
http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/d/d_...06_cr_mou.html

The brain is split into two hemispheres, which control the opposite side of the body.
Left brain>right side of body
Right brain> left side of body

Damage to the left side of brain often has greater symptoms.

With my injury it is unclear whether there has been damage to area of brain matter, or affected by swelling/ICP. As the information circuit passes through the temporal region it is likely that the damage there has caused an interruption in the flow due to torn axons either centrally or peripherally.

(I am still researching brain regions so this section is incomplete, nor have I had a chance to investigate the cognitive/speech symptoms though, indeed, they are also found in effected region)

__________________________________________________ ______________

Healing

The long (ahem) and short of it is that it will just take time for my nerves to heal/axons to regrow. In severe cases, or cases that do not show improvement, there are surgical options but these pose a risk of further damage and as it is not fully understood (in my case or at all) whether these probs are central or peripheral this poses further confusion/risk.

As brain swelling causes raised ICP, and that in turn limits info flow of nerves, it is important to minimize this. Hence why the naproxin has been so helpful.

It is also important to train how axons regrow, by using the info pathways. Hopefully the PT will help with this (have an apt for end of February). As will continuing to brain train/work ect.

Re swimming. This sounds good, but unfortunately I am not allowed to get water in my ear. I do have deep, hot baths tho and find this easeful though whenever I wash my hair (no matter how hard I try not to get water in my ear!) I always get a burst of tinnitus after and increase in other symptoms.

Would it be possible to edit the title lease? To "CT Results and overview of Nerves/Motor cortex"? So people know content without clicking thru? Cheers

(Cheers for title edit)

Wotcha confused by Lara?

Those definitions are broad, but are what are used to diagnose. I think the general idea, the difference between a concussion and m/TBI is that in a concussion the brain is not directly injured. With m/TBI it is. This is why those time frame windows for healing are given, though by no means an explicit certainty.

This, of course, as is evidenced by all the folks commenting here, not to say that subsequent swelling does not cause symptoms from a concussion. This is where genetics and underlying conditions come into play. If someone already has neurological issues (OCD, migraines, epilepsy et al) or a poor immune system or an inflammatory disease or some such, this can cause latter events in the cascade to manifest as stronger symptoms as the underlying issues are exacerbated.

A big factor in this is receptor overload (which ever receptors). When the info flow is broken the brain can interpret this as a threat (/stimuli) and produces an unnecessarily strong response. This is why PTSD is often associated with head injuries, even though it is often not 'true' PTSD (a key part of that definition is the complete sensory memories of the triggering event linked to adrenal surges.)

The systems of the body, and certainly the brain!, are very much interconnected. This, in part, accounts for the variation of healing times.

(As my post was so long, and we all talk about it here so much, I did not include every symptom but of course they exist.)