donnie d,

Now, your task is to not undo the work she did. Icing after each adjustment will be good. It will take some repeated adjustments until your ligaments tighten to hold things in place. Poor posture in bed can undo what she did.

Donniedarko,
Sounds like you had a good experience today. Thanks for sharing. Did they give you any idea of how many treatments you'll need? I hope this helps your headache as well as making your neck better.

Yeah, we talked about my bed and sleep posture. I think I'll be sleeping without a pillow, with my pillow to the side of my head for now. I can't tell if my bed is bad for me because I had gotten the bed a month before my concussion. She said that now my neck is all aligned, I should be able to gauge it better.

She told me that we'll probably need to do a few visits until we can make sure that it's gained its strength to hold its optimal position. After looking at the x-rays she said that she can see a misalignment that would've been caused by at least 2 traumas and that the problem was there the whole time although the last concussion was probably the last straw. That makes sense because I had subtle neck problems ever since my first concussion, they just weren't bad enough for me to seek treatment. Thank you for your kind wishes, I'll keep y'all updated!

I know it's too early to determine any sort of efficacy, but my headache is still there. I was hoping I'd sleep better last night than I did. I didn't take my pain medication last night or this morning so the headache is not terrible, though it's bad enough to where it bothers me. Chiro lady did tell me that it may take some time for symptoms to alleviate since the muscles and ligaments have to adjust to the corrected position; so maybe it'll take some time. We'll see.

edit: Spoke too soon. Headache got bad enough so I had to take pain pills..

Donnie,
How are the headaches today? Have you considered going to a headache specialist?
I haven't had a concussion, but I did get a headache out of the blue 3 years ago and I've had it every day since then. It fluctuates between mild and moderate, but it never goes away. It started with stabbing pain on top my head and slowly spread to both sides of my face over the course of 6 months.
I was diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia, but I saw a new doctor a few weeks ago who thinks the problem started with my occipital nerve. I fell and landed on my backside a few weeks before the headaches started and this doctor feels that the jarring from the fall started off an inflammatory process that has gotten out of control. If that's so, I really would like to know how to reverse this process and get my nerves to calm down.
Right now, I'm getting occipital nerve blocks every 6 weeks. They help somewhat. I'm taking hydrocodone, cymbalta and a whole lot of supplemets. I just started boswellia serrata.
I think it would be to your benefit to see a specialist who will focus solely on your headaches. Daily headaches are hard to deal with and I'm sorry you're going through this. I hope you find some relief soon.
Cheryl

Hi Cheryl,

I'm sorry that you have been dealing with it for 3 years. I took my pills in the afternoon yesterday, but didn't have to in the evening as the headache wasn't too bad. The chiro told me that if I don't see a significant difference in 2 weeks, she probably cannot help me. My neuro thinks mine is occipital neuralgia and suggested I do PT and massage therapy for it. I haven't tried those things yet, I just don't see how PT and massage can solve a headache issue that's been going on for 6 months though I'll probably try it just to give it a try. My pain is usually mostly right side of my head and the base of my skull. It's more faint in the other areas of my head. When I get it badly, my right ear starts aching as well. I have been trying to find a good headache specialist in my area to consult with.

As for today, I just took my pills 15 mins ago as I'm feeling quite a bit of a headache today. I was using this tool yesterday: www.triggerpointproducts.com/symptomchecker and found that the symptoms described under "Sternocleidomastoid" muscle issues seem to be on point for me. I was especially surprised about the following statement there:

"A common visual disturbance a person may experience is when looking at contrasting parallel lines such as a Venetian blind."

I've noticed so many times that when I look at my blinds for a few seconds and then look away, I see like an imprint of the blinds for a few seconds after. And then I read this, and it resembles a lot with my situation: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1769463/

I'm thinking about giving trigger point therapy a try.

dd,

A chiro adjustment is not a single correction or even a 2 or 3 adjustment correction. It can take weeks for improvements to become long term. Did she suggest icing after the adjustment ? The adjustment is a mini-trauma and icing will be helpful.

You might benefit from some gentle massage before or after (be very gentle after) to loosen the muscles that are tense.

Just wanted to post an update in case anyone might be interested.

It's been 1 week since my first adjustment and while I don't think it has made a big difference for my headaches, I do think there has been a slight improvement. I feel better balanced and my posture is amazing. I'm still having some referred pain in my neck and back which my chiro said was normal, since the muscles are in the process of adjusting to my new alignment. I have also felt like my head sensitivity went down a bit, probably because my head feels more stable on my neck now. We're doing post X-rays on Wednesday and I'll try to snap a picture for y'all.

Yes, most definately. Somtimes I wake up with a headache in the middle of the night. I have to take some Tylenol and rearrange my pillows so my neck is supported. If you sleep with your neck acting like a bridge to your head you're going to have a headache. Support your neck. Even if you have to stuff pillows under it after you get comfortable.

At my first neurology appointment, my neuro warned me that I might never find out the cause of my headache/facial pain and if I was lucky enough to find a cause, it could take two or three years. How right he was. There are so many causes of headaches and it's very frustrating because you know that if you knew WHY, then you could fix it.

If you feel that the Sternocleidomastoid could be the cause of your pain, then you should pursue it and see what happens. I have tried many medications and treatments trying to discover the WHY. The way I see it, everything that doesn't work gives me valuable information.

Whatever you try, make sure you give it enough of a chance. As Mark said, you might not get good results with the chiropracter in just 2 or 3 visits. Don't give up without giving it enough time (and don't let the chiropracter give up on you too quickly).

I'm glad to hear the adjustment made you feel better even though it didn't help your headache. I hope your headache isn't too bad today.

Cheryl