Hi doctor,
I have had persistent, recurrent headaches and shooting head pains due to a concussion from a traumatic brain injury, that I acquired five years back. The doctor has described my headaches as tension-type headaches, I have pain behind the eyes mainly, but it can be on the top of the head and upper neck, the base of the skull. I also had vertigo for two months after the injury. Does vertigo or dizziness give an indication of the severity of the concussion that I suffered? I still require vestibular correction, as the Unterberger test was positive. Can vestibular problems cause headaches? Is there any way of telling if I suffered more than one concussion during the accident? Could that be the reason for my prolonged symptoms? To my knowledge, I did not suffer a loss of consciousness, but I am not entirely sure. Does concussion cause damage to the structures of the head and neck and to the blood vessels supplying the brain, that could be causing the recurrent headaches? Can a C5-C6 bulge cause headaches, because this was revealed in the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)? The brain computed tomography (CT) scan was normal at the time of the injury. What can I do to repair the muscles of the neck if they are causing my headaches? Would physiotherapy help? The brain MRI, four years after the injury, revealed a few scattered foci of high signal intensity in the frontal lobe deep in the white matter. The doctors that I have consulted so far will not definitively say whether or not they are attributable to the injury. One doctor said that these white matter hyperintensities could be caused by the hardening of the arteries. Would this not be unusual for a man, who is 40 years old? The radiologist has described the hyperintensities as a small established lesions. As part of the MRI, I had a gradient echocardiogram which was normal for the investigation of microbleeds. I used to smoke for about two or three years only, and I gave up smoking about fourteen years ago. The severity of this injury and the persistent, debilitating symptoms caused by it, continue to ruin my life and as well as the persistent headaches. Every day I feel the damage done to my brain, and it just feels distinctly different, the effects of the trauma and just a reduced mental capacity which is unquantifiable and a lack of motivation and depression, especially with the persistent pain. It is tough to lift myself up and put this behind me. I take Amitriptyline occasionally. I would be grateful for your response to my questions and your expert opinion.