My concussion occurred a month ago when I slipped and fell backwards hitting the back of my head on a turf surface. There may have been some whiplash, I had a little bit of pain but it wasn't particularly bothersome. I've aggravated my neck several times since the initial injury and have developed some significant pain/stiffness in my upper back and neck. This stiffness/pain causes my head to hurt wherever it makes contact with the pillow. This has caused me to wake up after a couple hours and lose 5 or 6 nights of sleep when it's particularly bad.

I've been working with an athletic therapist and a masseuse who have done some hands on work which has relieved the tension/pain each time for a short amount of time. I don't know if the pain is returning on its own or if i've been re-aggravating it by accidental quick neck movements like drinking back vitamin supplements too quickly or falling backwards onto my pillow as i mentioned in a previous thread. I lost another night of pain last night due to the head pain on the pillow and I was wondering if anyone had any ideas or advice about the best b=way to deal with the situation. does it make sense to continue seeing the athletic therapist who seems to be fairly well educated about concussions?

I went to see a doctor at a walk in clinic today because i was wondering if there might be a need to do x-rays/imaging to see if there was any damage besides soft tissue damage. She said that she thought it was just muscle stiffness. Might it make sense to get a second opinion? Any comments would be appreciated.

You don't describe the head pain on pillow so there is no way we can comment on that. From what you have said, I don't think your issue is concussion related. I believe it is whiplash related. Do not throw your head back when taking vitamins. Instead, gently tip you head back if you need to.

Does your head really hurt or does your upper neck hurt or do you just get a headache ?

Hands on work does not mean much. There are some who do amazing hands on work and others who cause injury or exacerbate symptoms with their hands on work.

Most athletic therapists receive their concussion training in week end seminars like those required to be certified to administer ImPACT testing.

Without knowing what the hands on therapy was, there is no way to know if it is worthwhile. Many focus on range of motion. That is not always good. Others are just too forceful. It should not be painful unless he/she is doing myofacial release where the pain is momentary as the muscle lets go.

A walk in doc is 99% worthless. Very few have any valid concussion knowledge. Again, weekend seminars. The x-ray or imaging that can be done is not capable of diagnosing the subtle neck injuries common to your situation. When it can, it requires a very skilled image reader. Some times, it requires a full motion x-ray with a very skilled reader. A doc in the box is never going to request such an imaging.

It would be best if you keep all of your posts in the same thread. That way, we can scroll through past posts.

Have PTs check for trigger points in your muscles and scalp.. If they don't know much about them, find better PTs..
You or a friend could also check for them.. this chart is very helpful..
Pain Reference Chart
A web search will bring up many other TRP info sites..

Thank you very much for this information.

It sounds like the AT is doing classic therapies, not myofacial or other release protocols. The best therapies my PT used were not forceful except for her finger tip. When she did neck work, she used gentle traction with gentle mobilization. When she did release therapies, she would hold a point until the spams released. Then, the joints and muscles would settle down.

You still don't define the pain when you lay down. Is it at the surface, on the skin over your skull ? Is it behind your ears ? Is it below the bony part of the back base of your skull (occiput) where the C-1 vertebra connects to the skull ?

You can traumatize the nerves in the many layers of skin. These can be very tender for weeks. If your upper neck is radiating muscle spams and tension, the pain will be more behind your ears.

Do you have a recliner ? Sleeping in a reclined position with a thin pillow rolled up at the edges to support your head from rolling to the side may help you get good sleep.



You might find better help from a Physiatrist (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation) rather than an athletic therapist. A good Physiatrist may be able to better diagnose your injury. A good Osteopath may be helpful. Look for either who has good whiplash experience. The upper back and lower neck are difficult to diagnose and treat.

You may have suffered a minor concussion but your symptoms are neck/whiplash.

Did you look for the Post Reply button at the bottom left or top left of the thread ?

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I think that the pain is either on the skin or between the skin and my skull. I find it difficult to tell exactly.When I'm lying directly on my back with my head straight, the pain is where the base of my skull meets the top of my neck which I think is the occipital, as you mentioned. This is essentially where my head makes contact with the pillow. If I turn my head to the left or right, I feel the same kind of pain but higher up on the skin/skull because a higher portion of my head is making contact with the pillow.

It might be relevant to mention that the pain is not there every night. it seems to correspond with the times when my neck is especially stiff or sore. Each time that I've had a difficult night with that pain, I've seen either my AT or a PT or a masseuse and the next night has generally been better. The pain has returned after a day or more but again, I'm not sure if it's returning on its own or if it's because i've re-aggravated the neck.

I will look into finding a Physiotrist and an Osteopath who have experience with whiplash.

Aside from the neck pain/whiplash I am also dealing with the regular concussion related symptoms. Although it is unpleasant to have a sore neck and lose sleep, I'm most concerned with how the neck issue and poor sleep are affecting my brain recovery from the concussion itself.

If I had some other questions to ask, not related to the neck pain, should I ask them in this thread or ask a new one?

Thanks again, Mark. I really appreciate your input.

What does this mean if you have these? I definitely do and my headache pain gets replicated if I pinch my neck muscles on both sides. I've been doing acupuncture with electric shock to try to loosen them. I've also done trigger point injections and 5 weeks of physical therapy. Nothing has worked.

I don't trust chiropractors so does that mean that there's nothing else left for me to try?

Physical therapy can be good or worthless depending on the skills and therapy done. Traditional PT protocols are range of motion focused and/or strengthening focused and not much help with many subtle neck injuries. As Jo*Mar said, If your PT does not know how to identify trigger points and such, find a different PT.

Just as there are good and worthless PTs, there are also great and useless chiros. It is hard to find the good ones. In my experience, only one in five have been worthwhile. Same as my experience with PTs.

Some DOs, Osteopaths, are good with neck issues. Again, you have to find the good ones.

In my experience, any treatment will show at least a temporary improvement after just a few treatments if not the first. More treatments may be needed for lasting results but the treatments should be spaced apart with self-treatment/postural discipline used to help the treatment last.

Therapists of all types tend to want to keep their calendars full and use up the patient's insurance and financial resources doing so. The "I want to see you twice a week for 5 weeks" at the first appointment is bogus in my experience. Been there. Had to deal with that type of treatment.

The good ones might say, "I want to see you twice this week then next Monday, we will re-evaluate."

I spent $8000 in the first year and a half trying to find worthwhile care. I found a PT who did myofacial release (sort of trigger point therapy) and some other protocols and I started improving.

Upper cervical chiropractic helped and is not like the twist the head and pop the neck form.

I'm going to Mayo Clinic tomorrow for 5-7 day stay. Will see what they say about it.

The proletherapy treatment I looked up seems interesting and Mayo Clinic released statement in 05 saying it may be beneficial. The quote I got for that treatment was $3,400 for 4 doses. Reviews from the provider are controversial with some people saying they are way worse after doing procedure.

If I'm going to pay a lot of $, I feel HBOT has best chance at making a meaningful difference. Just my instinct for all that I've read and the science behind it. That and Keto diet which I'll be trying after I get back from Mayo.