Hi everyone,

I'm 17 year old girl who just started my senior year of high school. In December 2015 I had a minor concussion that healed in less than a week. On March 2nd, 2017, I was slammed against the concrete wall during indoor soccer practice. I thought I was healed from that, and felt fine for about 2 weeks, but I apparently went back to sports too soon, and got whiplash after falling in a lacrosse game.

I've had PCS ever since; it's been about a year and a half now. I had almost fully gotten back my life. I was fully functional at school and was even mostly able to run again (I do cross country and track), despite having lingering neck pain and tightness and face/neck muscle spasms almost constantly.

On August 15th, 2018, I was cleaning my room when a 1 and 3/4 pound board fell on the back of my head from a few feet up when I bumped into a shelf. I'm not sure if this was a concussion or not, but I treated it like it was. I took a week of bed rest with no exercise, screens, or reading. My symptoms have been heightened ever since the incident and instead of just neck pain, I also have more intense headaches, dizziness, sensitivity to light, sensitivity to noise, and nausea induced by car rides and other things. Concentrating in school has been hard and I often feel dizzy and have a lot of neck pain. I went to the pediatrician and he said that it wasn't a concussion, just increased sensitivity because of muscle related problems.

Even before this setback I was feeling very disillusioned and like I was never going to heal. I feel like I've been through every treatment possible. I've seen a neurologist and a vision specialist. I've done two rounds of vestibular physical therapy, chiropractic twice a week for about a month, and I've taken lots of medications, including migrelief, magnesium, and aleve. My pediatrician speculates that I need to do enough muscle relaxation to stop the spasms and the neck pain. For the past few weeks I've been using a heating pad, applying Bengay, and doing lots of neck stretches. These things are certainly not hurting, but I don't feel like they're helping either. The only time I've actually felt better is after getting a massage, but the relief only lasts an hour or two at most.

I feel like I'm a different person from before my concussion. I separate everything in my life into before and after. Sometimes I have difficulty connecting to my friends who haven't experienced similar types of trauma. I cry almost every day after school. I used to be really into running, hiking, and other outdoor activities, but now I can barely motivate myself to get out of bed. I'm looking forward to college and the future, but only if I am able to heal from this.

I am hypervigilant about avoiding any potential danger. I used to play soccer and lacrosse, but I quit because I'm scared of getting hit again. Almost every time I get even a minor bump, I have an anxiety attack. It can take me hours to calm down from these and usually I need to call my dad and have him reassure me that it probably isn't anything serious. I feel like I don't know anyone who has healed from this and I don't know how I will if I keep having setbacks from every little bump. I feel like I'm wasting my youth and my life in general.

Thank you all for reading this. Do you have any suggestions for either physical or emotional relief, or similar stories that ended in success?

Thanks,
Sydney