When a person develops migraine headache within two weeks of a trauma, these are considered to be post-traumatic headaches. They frequently result from trauma to the head or neck, such as in a motor vehicle accident. The severe headache that is associated with post-traumatic headache is often debilitating and can cause enormous disruption in the victim's life. Severe headaches tend to be individual things. They can vary in:

• Exact location
• Duration
• Frequency
• Severity
• Associated symptoms

For a post-traumatic migraine, a CT scan or an MRI would be done to rule out any bleeding inside the skull, and other tests may be done depending on the individual circumstances.

Common symptoms

• Dizziness
• Memory problems
• Sensitivity to noise or lights
• Tiredness
• Difficulty sleeping
• Anxiety, irritability, and/or depression
• Poor concentration
• Neck pain

Although some people may think these complaints are being exaggerated, they certainly are real, and can be incapacitating. If they continue for a while, they can set up a vicious cycle. The symptoms of tiredness and inability to sleep will feed into each other, and irritability and trouble with concentrating create more trouble in the home or work environment, which increases the severity of those symptoms.

Many studies have established that persons suffering from chronic post-traumatic headache have severe difficulties in the workplace because of increased and unpredictable absence from work and decreased productivity while at work due to headache.

Neck pain

This is a very common accompaniment to the post-traumatic migraine, and is usually caused by damage to the soft tissue (muscles and ligaments) in the neck. Sometimes there is also damage to one or more vertebral discs (the pads between the bones of the spine), and/or nerve roots (the spinal nerves which exit from the spinal cord through small holes in the vertebrae).

There can be pain over the entire back of the head, neck and shoulders, with muscle spasms and severely reduced neck movement.

Physical therapy is usually effective for this neck pain, and at times medications, counseling, and biofeedback sessions.

Medication

Medication is the most reliable method of treating post-traumatic migraine, and can be either:

• Abortive - to treat an existing migraine, or
• Preventive - to cut down on future migraines

At first, if abortive drugs are used to take care of the headaches, and if they persist long enough, treatment will switch to preventive drugs. Medications can be over-the-counter or prescribed, and are used to:

• Reduce swelling
• Prevent nausea
• Numb pain

If you are experiencing post-traumatic migraines, arising from an accident caused by somebody's carelessness or negligence, you should consult an experienced personal injury attorney.

Don't delay. Call or email Chicago injury lawyer Barry Doyle today for your free legal consultation. No recovery, no fee.

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