Hi all just signed up. I was in a car accident 8 weeks ago it was only a light accident. i did not bang my head.
About three days after the accident I started to get ringing in my ears and headaches and I’ve had them ever since I’ve been to the doctors. hospital. accident and emergency I had a CT scan which came back clear that was on the 13/5/22. Had my blood took there are all clear. There all saying it’s pcs. ( post concussion syndrome )
I’ve read up on it. The only trouble is I’m self-employed and I’m really struggling to do my job as I’m driving instructor these I’m haveing loads of time off. No Pay. headaches are there permanently and the ringing in my ears. I have attacks where they get so severe I literally can’t do anything.
I’m just wondering if anyone else has had this. I’m usually fit and active. I have not been to the gym now since it started. Some days I’m absolutely exhausted. Feel as though it’s just not getting any better. I just do not feel right at all
I’m just wondering if it could be something else.
Ear problem. Infection.
Doctors and hospital just done seem to be helping at all
Written by
LewisThomas
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Does sound like concussion symptoms to me too - best remedy is to start having breaks where u lay down with eyes closed and covered even ear plugs too for 10 mins every hour or so. And slowly build your self back up. Gentle yoga is good too focusing on breathing etc great site to visit is Love Your Brain - they have meditation and yoga vids on there that are awesome. Stay away from screens if poss or limit time, stay away from busy places supermarket etc It does get better but also keeping a diary of sorts of what you do each day in case you have worse days etc then you can help pin point of it was something you did.
Try not to over do it rest rest rest when u can.
Brains need to reset and rewire after a shake. If you are not sleeping get some pills or try magnesium sleep support - as anything without sleep seems ten times worse be patient with yourself and see if you can get some support from government or ACC if you have it there
It will get better time and rest is best way forward 😀
ACC is accident compensation claim - I’m in nz and we have it here. Means when u have an accident you can’t claim up to 80% of wages while you can’t work. It’s something that comes out of your wages when you are working like a tax I suppose to cover you if you can’t work if that makes sense. Meant when I couldn’t work I still had some income to help out 😀
Hi Not sure if it helps but my brother suffered ringing in ears which turned out to be tinnitus, he has really blocked ears to to wax compacted and also suffering headaches which are compared to migraine.
He’s trying drops of olive oil in ears and if that doesn’t work then he’s been advised to have them vacuumed out, which isn’t available on nhs only private. He hasn’t suffered any injuries but just thought it might be linked to what you’re going through? Hope it gets sorted out and good luck 🤞
Hi Lewis. I too have ringing in the ears (tinnitus) and dizziness which GP and ENT specialist both suggest are linked to migraine. My tinnitus has been continuous since the 80s and resembles a jet aircraft just before takeoff !
But I do know that your symptoms are often associated with PCS so it might be a matter of getting maximum rest between driving lessons and avoiding over-exertion, excess stimulus (noise/bright lighting/screens etc) for a few weeks to see if symptoms start to reduce in severity.
Rest, healthy diet, taking walks in quiet areas and drinking plenty of water should all help to bolster your fitness & recovery.
Hi Cat thanks for your reply. yes I’m taking a full week off this week and hopefully it will improve things. Going to get plenty of rest. Just the stress doesn’t help with me being self-employed it’s obviously all time out of work with no pay. I’m going to be ringing a decent solicitors today to see if there’s any help from them. As I’m struggling to do my job as Driving is one thing. But trying to teach driving is a totally different matter it’s not helping my mind get the rest. Thanks
Hi Lewis, welcome, if you were unconscious, or dazed in the accident, then you have experienced a brain injury, this is what concussion is. You don't need to have struck your head to experience concussion, just rapid, violent movement of the head.
All injuries are different, and how they heal, and how much recovery will be different for each person. Early recovery, you are looking at months, opposed to weeks. Fatigue is common, this is likely to manifest unlike anything you have previously experienced, like waves of suddenly feeling like you have been partying for a week with no rest. This is debilitating, and impossible to fight (we all have tried). You should listen to your body, and initially rest as needed, hopefully this will improve.
Ringing in the ears, also known as tinnitus, can be transient, or a permanent problem, yes obvious causes should be ruled out, but often this originates in the brain.
Be aware of how you are feeling. There are stressors that can take their toll, the ringing, the fatigue, worry about money, inability to perform as previously.
Concussion, unlike many injuries, may not have any detectable sign's on CT scans, functional MRI scans may detect changes. This has been researched by the military, and is now being taken seriously in sports. The body is good at protecting the inner environment, but it cannot stop extremes. Concussion can occur from relatively minor events, trips, slips, falls, car shunt.
Check out Headway, they have information about concussion, and a helpline. They can support you through the recovery journey. They will also help with benefits if needed. Their contact details are pinned to this page.
I'm sorry that I am not more positive in reply, but for the person experiencing a brain injury, there is no minor injury, and I would be doing you a disservice to sugarcoat it. I do hope that this does resolve its self, to a good recovery for you.
Hi LewisThomasYou have described what my son had after getting a bad knock to the head whilst playing rugby when he was about 14. He was diagnosed with post concussion syndrome. He spent virtually 2 weeks resting in bed with blackout curtains across the window, dosed up on over the counter painkillers, and rested his brain, ie no school work, limited screen time etc. and sleeping a lot, although some of the sleeping was probably related to him being a teenager going through a growth and developmental spurt. When he returned to school he found 'thinking' made his head hurt again and would come home exhausted as well. I have a hypoxic/anoxic BI during which the first 18 months I had terrible pain in my head with the feeling of pressure in the brain. It would make me dizzy and vomit. It did ease with time. I know several people in my brain injury occupational therapy group who all say the same about pain in the head, that pressure feeling, dizziness and some of them have ringing in the ears as well.
Hope my reply helps. You are not alone. As others have said, rest your brain. It needs it. I appreciate your difficulty with being self employed, and being a driving instructor is quite a complex thing for your brain to dealn with, in that you're monitoring the driver as well as the road conditions, you're communicating and having to think about what you need to instruct. It all adds up to a complex process for your brain. Rest it otherwise the PCS may continue for longer as it'll take longer to heal. Good luck x
Thank you for your reply this makes so much sense it really does. I really do think that’s what’s making my recovery taking longer it’s really tough as I’ve got students who have Driving Test coming up and it’s all stress but I need to think about myself obviously with the money side of things as I’m self-employed the more I am off work the more money I do not make obviously we’ve all got bills to pay I think that out of everything that is the most stressful component of all this recovery I think I’ll give headway a ring and just to see their advice on this matter. thanks once again
Hello, welcome to the forum, but I'm very sorry this has happened to you. Post concussion/ mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) can occur after a jolt or shake, rather than a head injury. (Even in a light accident, the car was possibly moving at least at 10 miles an hour I guess? Read Clark Elliott 'The Ghost in my Brain ')
I had constant headaches and extra migraine type attacks originally, and bad fatigue, though mine was caused by a bang on the head - I didn't get tinnitus though. Some of the headache can be caused by trapped nerves in the neck at the base of the skull, as opposed to what my consultant called post traumatic migraine.
I only start to get headaches now if I'm overdoing things, and they then can join up into a constant headache over several days. So for me, with hindsight, they feel like they're linked to fatigue - but I did have a load of physio on my neck by a specialist concussion physio relatively early on, which I think helped.
Every brain injury is different and the trajectory of every injury is different as well. But the effects of a concussion can take a long time to clear up, in months rather than weeks, which is very difficult to handle, as you may not have had anything that lasted this long before.
Do you have any insurance cover that might pay out? I'm afraid I don't know what you might be entitled to in terms of state benefits.
Try regular brain breaks of 10 - 15 minutes every hour- in a quiet dark space, with no TV or screen or music. I found meditation apps like Headspace useful for taking breaks - but just setting a timer and laying down with your eyes shut is really good and helpful.
The idea on managing fatigue is to only do during a day what you can without triggering fatigue - so at first that will be very little indeed - then only gradually build up by perhaps 30 minutes a day on a couple of days a week. If you trigger fatigue, then go back to the lower level of activity. The idea is to build up gradually, and not to do a lot more on the days you feel ok - only to have a bad day or so afterwards ( the so-called boom and bust pattern).
Try keeping a fatigue diary - and log how tired you are out of 10, three times a day and what you did in-between - it may help you to spot patterns - and it will be useful to show your GP.
To log your headaches (and this is really useful before trying out any of the migraine drugs available, to see how much effect they have over time) is the free 'Migraine Buddy' app, where you can quickly log symptoms on your phone, and produce a printout that shows severity and frequency to take into your GP.
And also chat to the Headway helpline in office hours on 0808 800 2244 for informed practical and emotional support - they are brilliant.
Hope things start to improve for you - and please let us know how you get on.
Thank you for your reply yes the main thing is is the work I need to take time off but it’s the bill side of things because I’m self-employed I’m going to give headway a ring later on and see what they suggest I don’t have any sickness cover unfortunately as I’m normally fit and well very active but obviously these things do happen thanks for your time and answering it’s really helped me look forward
It's a really very stressful time for you Lewis, the extra worry about bills is really tough on top of dealing with a health condition. Would the citizens advice bureau be any good for advice on benefits? I know they can take a while, but it might be useful. You're not part of any industry body that may have advice?
If you are having trouble paying bills - contact all the companies sooner rather than later and explain what's happened.
Hi L - a few more thoughts...I know you're very worried about working, but are your car insurers happy for you to be driving? There seems to be a bit of a maze around driving after a brain injury. I didn't relinquish my licence, but I did fill out forms to send to the DVLA - who write to your doctors. They did ok me to carry on driving, but it took a while. The insurance company said they would insure me if the DVLA had ok'd it.
Leaf ( among others) wrote a very good reply. Don't be concerned about the neuropsychiatrist label by the way - because of the way the medical disciplines built up originally it has just happened that they are the doctors that specialise in what happens after a TBI. Mine was brilliant at explaining that all the weird stuff after an MTBI was because of a brain injury. They are very useful people.
It strikes me that you need a formal diagnosis of MTBI so that you can claim as much as possible from your (or the other driver's) car insurance - what does your policy say about personal injury? I don't know how far the payout would go, but they can take a long time to resolve - so it's not a quick fix unfortunately.
Sorry to throw all this at you, at a worrying time.
Sorry to hear about your accident. The ringing in your ears sounds like tinnitus and given that you didn’t bang your head it is likely not to be permanent and to clear up of its own accord. Tinnitus is considered permanent if it continues for longer than a year. I know several people who have tinnitus and have learned to manage it with techniques such as white noise.
You’re welcome! Also, meant to say, tinnitus does not like quietness so if you are having difficulty sleeping put on some background music/TV or there are apps available that play the sound of water running or fires crackling and it does help to aide sleep.
I was rear-ended while stopped for a red light. I was not rendered unconscious or dazed. At first I thought it was just going to be some sore muscles and headaches but it had a major long term impact.
The first diagnosis I got was concussion. I needed a doctor to do reports and saw a neuro psychiatrist. Don't stress about the psychiatrist word- in the history of medicine they put anything they could see , like cuts and breaks, in one category - and everything they couldn't see - the impact of vitamins, ms, bi, in the so called psychiatric category. Mental health issues can require attention as getting a brain injury is stressful as the impact can be major and the symptoms unpleasant.
So, I would suggest you ask for a referral to a neuro psychiatrist. They understand bi the best and also can rx medications that may help you.
I'll mention I had a clear CT and about 2 years later had an mri which also was clear. The neuro psychiatrist was still able to provide the diagnosis which was accepted so I could get some financial support.
Some people recover relatively quickly and for some the impact is long term. It is easy to assume you'll shake it off but that might not be the case.
So yes, follow up in any accident insurance you may have, start keeping a journal of symptoms and what docs you see, what you are no longer able to do.
There are people who are taken to hospital with cracked skulls who walk out and go back to their lives, and some who have relatively minor accidents that do not recover enough to work.
Yes, that is scary and you need to know so you can act accordingly.
You see, if there is swelling the process that happens can destroy the tales of neurons and they are too small to show up on tests, but can be seen in functional mri's, though they are not commonly done except for research, at least in Canada where I am.
I also have ringing in the ears that comes and goes. Sometimes it has to do with a physical thing that you can realign with a maneuver that is quite simple, but sometimes it doesn't work. You can mimic it at home by laying flat, turning your head to the right and staying like that 5 minutes, moving to the normal facing forward for 5, then to the left for 5, then normal again and wait. It has to do with some small sensors in our ears that can get misaligned.
Being able to drive but not talk to others at the same time requires you to divide your attention and not being able to is a bi sign.
Getting help early is a good idea as healing goes relatively quickly in the first two to three years and you want to be doing the right things as best you can.
Will this be long term for you or not? It is a wait and see situation, no one can know for sure. I got told it would be six months but that wad not what happened.
I don't mean to scare you, though it is scary
- you need to act accordingly and take it seriously. If it does heal quickly ok, and you are better prepared if it doesn't.
You get maximum healing while sleeping so make sure you get enough and also eat healthily- do not cut out fat as your brain needs it to heal - just make sure you are getting healthy fats like from olive oil and hemp (has the omega profile that matches our needs best). You will find info online if you need it.
Seeing an ent (ear nose throat) doc can also be a good idea.
Headway has ideas of who to see I believe. ( we don't have it here. )
All you report here are symptoms of bi . Yes, do get other options tested whichbis also where a neuro psych can be helpful because you may have more than one thing. Insurance will try to say it is not accident related at all and
can come up with ridiculous reasons to explain it away, so you need a specialist doctor to set it straight.
Also do not be surprised if you feel worse on days the weather is changing - the air pressure can impact symptoms and your system may not adjust as fast as it used to. Also high pressure reduces symptoms of inflammation.
Get yourself some sunglasses. The grey lenses reduce contrast and the amber ones glare. They can help a lot.
Do not have the radio on while you are driving - that requires multitasking ( they call it divided attention these days).
If you can't do the gym try to go for walks, if you are able. Staying active is important . (This is not something you can push through and healing is not predictable in the same ways broken bones are.)
Do rest frequently - that means actually resting not watching TV or light activity. A dark quiet room is the ideal. Set a timer so you stop a task before you are wiped out.
Sorry I can't be more reassuring, this is the kind of club no one wants to join and the members are all happy when someone leaves. Acceptance is not an easy journey.
The ringing in your ear could be tinnitus. A had a tbi and am left with constant ringing in My ears well centre of ma head it feels like it's coming from there is no cure for it and no treatment but thers a tablet called cinnarizine it doesn't stop it but makes it less noticeable at times .the specialist at the hospital 🏥 also suggested a supplement that you can get out of the shops called gingko biloba that he told me some people say that it helps.i have not tried it as I asked my GP and they weren't sure about it as I am on a lot of medication for my head and other problems I have .I hope this can bring you some relief as it is mind numbing the constant ringing a feel you mate 👍
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