07/30/2017
Spinal Concussion Syndrome
Concussion is a common condition diagnosed in emergency, walk-in clinics and the family doctor’s office. The frequency and severity of concussions have seemingly increased and become worse respectively. It has been said that the impact of our sports is possibly harder and faster due to increased speeds in the sports. In the past, physicians and the public were less able to recognize the symptoms and seriousness of the condition.
Post concussion syndrome (PCS) is a condition named for symptoms that develop after head injury and concussion and can become chronic in nature.
The Mayo Clinic reports the following symptoms for PCS:
Headaches- Post-concussion headaches can vary and may feel like tension-type headaches or migraines.
Most often, they are tension-type headaches
Dizziness
Fatigue
Irritability
Anxiety
Insomnia
Loss of concentration and memory
Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
Blurry vision
Noise and light sensitivity (photophobia)
Rarely, decreases in taste and smell
The Mayo Clinic recognizes the presence of a neck injury being commonly associated with concussion.
At the Lamb Pain Clinic, we have been treating simple and complex headaches for 25 years, including post-concussion syndrome headaches. Many of our PCS patient can make very quick and meaningful recovery with only a few proprietary interventional treatments required.
At the LPC, our approach is to separate the head injury from the spinal injuries. This is important, as most clinics assert spinal complications to the head injury, and not the spine. This results in misdiagnosis, lack of appropriate spinal care, and lack of improvement with resulting diagnosis of PCS. It is important to separate the acquired brain injury from the acquired spinal injury.
Most of the symptoms described as PCS in the Mayo clinic description can be assigned to unresolved spinal injuries. In order to shed light on this fact, I have labeled these spinal symptoms SPINAL CONCUSSION SYNDROME (SCS). The intention is to draw recognition of these facts so that concussion injuries are treated as multiple area injuries; that is head and spine. All head injuries are also spinal injuries. The spine goes along for the ride with the head. For many, the untreated spine will be the long-lasting injury, while the brain recovers within 1-6 months, whether the patient, or the doctor are aware or not.
Spinal concussion syndrome (SCS), develops when a spine is injured and develops various spinal impingement syndromes that can tether the spinal cord or nerve roots below causing referred pain to the head, but also referred dysfunction which can manifest as tinnitus, vertigo, visual focus and depth dysfunction, photophobia, jaw trismus and frank TMJ, sleep interruption, depletion of brain neurotransmitters (depression and anxiety), and often there will be reduced neck range of motion, neck pain, numbness and tingling of hands, fingers, feet, and more. Again, it is important to separate the acquire brain injury symptoms from the acquired spinal injury symptoms.
SCS or the recognition of chronic spinal injuries causing nerve root and/or cord compression or irritation or tethering helps to explain many of the bizarre patterns of PCS that don’t really fit with the simple history of head injury alone.
For many diagnosed with classic post concussion syndrome (PCS), the more severe head injury occurred years before, and a recent minor head strike seemingly causes the PCS symptoms to develop or greatly increase with often total disability. However, what was missed in the early injury was a severe neck and spinal injury that often was never investigated or treated.
The spinal re-injury greatly aggravates the old spinal injury often with minimal actual brain injury. As many of the chronic concussion symptoms are actually spinal in origin, this new spinal injury, together with spinal aging and added spinal degeneration, causes more severe and chronic symptoms of headache, jaw symptoms, vertigo, light sensitivity, focusing problems, difficulty reading. Neck or spinal pain is typically not the major complaint, but an aggravation they may or may not report.
The spinal injuries in PCS, or more appropriately labeled SCS, and are like the iceberg beneath the water that is not seen, but huge representing 90% of its total size. The Lamb Pain Clinic has created specific and advanced proprietary spinal care for spinal concussion syndrome. More information on this topic will released in 2017 and 2018.
It should be mentioned that The Lamb Pain Clinic has also created proprietary newer MRI protocols for diagnosing the spine. These protocols will be available in 2018, and are more likely to demonstrate the spinal injuries associated with head injury and other spinal injuries and conditions.
Look to our page and Twitter for announcements.
