By William Huhn
Interestingly, virtually all medical websites do NOT include muscle trauma (especially trigger points) when siting causes of post-concussion syndrome (PCS).
Post-concussion syndrome is a complex disorder. The symptoms often include headaches and dizziness.
These symptoms can last for weeks and sometimes months after the injury that caused the concussion.
I have successfully treated several clients who have been suffering with post-concussion syndrome (PCS).
These clients were complaining of headache, dizziness/vertigo, and blurry vision.
For the brain to be concussed, there is typically a concomitant traumatic event to the neck – the neck muscles have essentially suffered a whiplash injury.
Treatment begins with a client consultation to confirm the medical diagnosis and rule-out any other potential brain/CNS concerns or contraindications. I treat post-concussion syndrome as a whiplash injury – actually, I prefer using the term “whiplash syndrome”. If you compare PCS and Whiplash signs/symptoms, there is more than a few similarities.
Trigger points are usually found in the following muscles – sternocleidomastoid (SCM), splenius capitis, suboccipitals, levator scapulae, upper trapezius, and scalenes. I might also treat any trigger points that are often found in the temporalis and masseter muscles.
The results can be impressive.
One teenage soccer player (a client of mine) who suffered a concussion during a game had cessation of PCS symptoms after one treatment.
Other clients received 2 or 3 treatments before remedying the PCS.
I know these few clinical results do not confirm anything conclusive, but I’d be willing to bet that most folks who are suffering from post-concussion syndrome would have similar results. At least when it comes to the vision, headaches, and dizziness symptoms.
I’d be interested to know if any other body work professionals have had similar successes.
Thanks for your time.
William
The following is from the Mayo Clinic website.
Post-concussion symptoms include:
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Fatigue
- Irritability
- Anxiety
- Insomnia
- Loss of concentration and memory
- Ringing in the ears
- Blurry vision
- Noise and light sensitivity
- Rarely, decreases in taste and smell
Post-concussion headaches can vary and may feel like tension-type headaches or migraines. Most often, they are tension-type headaches. These may be associated with a neck injury that happened at the same time as the head injury.
