Migraine since Whiplash
I suffered from migraines almost everyday for nine months about two years ago. Luckily they stopped and I still have no reason why I had them. Last week, I took a fall down the steps in my home and caused myself a whiplash injury. Since then, I’ve had three migraines in five days. Has anyone had similar? I’m really hoping it’s not the start of them again. I have two little boys to take care of and I just know my mental health is going to take a hit this time. 😭
Hi
, Thank you for reaching out to our community. I am sorry to hear you're seeing an uptick in attack frequency recently.
Have you had a chance to check in with your doctor? When we have new and/or different symptoms or patterns to our attacks, and/or suffer an injury, like a fall, it's always good to check in so he/she can make sure everything checks out OK.
It's certainly possible, it was for me, to have increased head pain after a whiplash injury, but only a qualified doctor can tell you what's really going on. I did want to share this article from one of our contributors about whiplash and increased pain; https://migraine.com/blog/hit-by-a-speeding-car/.
Please keep me posted on how you are doing,
Nancy Harris Bonk, Patient Advocate/ModeratorHi Nancy, thank you for replying. I’ve been to my local Minors and Emergency Departments who have both said the tightened muscle from the neck injury is causing the migraines. I just want to know how long it’s going to last and are the migraines going to get better once the neck pain goes? How long did you / have you been suffering since your injury? Have you had any relief?
Hi stephckj,
Thank you for the update. Good to hear you followed up with a doctor. Was he able to give you any indication when things would improve> I wish I could tell you how long this will last, it really varies from person to person.
Migraine cause and trigger can be complicated, let me explain. It's not that the neck injury is "causing" migraine attacks, as migraine is a genetic, neurological disease, rather, the injury may be triggering attacks. Let me share this information on the difference between cause and trigger; https://migraine.com/blog/migraine-causes-migraine-triggers/.
I fell in 1996 and sustained a TBI and whiplash which triggered chronic pain in my head, neck and shoulders in addition to daily migraine attacks. The doctor in the ER told me that in two weeks I would be good as new! When that didn't happen I was sure it was my fault, but learned after many years it wasn't. I've learned to live my "new" normal. It's been a very long road, but please remember we're all different. I've been getting Botox since 2016 which has helped. Botox has helped my acute medications work a bit better, which is a relief for most attacks. I wish I could say I'm completely pain free, but that wouldn't be true.
I wonder if you can find a doctor who is knowledgeable about treating neck injuries and specializes in migraine and headache disease? I'm not sure where you're located, but if in the US, the National Headache Foundation has a provider list of headache disease experts you can find here; https://headaches.org/resources/healthcare-provider-finder/.
Please let me know what you think,
Nancy Harris Bonk, Patient Advocate/Moderator
