Migraines, Schmigraines.

So, one of my best friends is nagging me... "I would check out the latest in your blog, except, oh yeah! there is no latest in your blog."
So, I returned from the mountains and I was a little worried... see each year, we go to NC and each year, soon after I arrive, I start getting headaches. Sometimes they last a while and sometime only several days.. but always there. Jethro has spoken often of the possibility of us moving up to Asheville and I secretly wince thinking that there is something in the air up there that I must be allergic to and that wouldn't be a wise of a choice to live. Upon arrival home, I was FED UP! I started, once again, to be very proactive in doing something about my headaches.
This is not the first time in the past 20 years I've really tried to figure my headaches out... in fact, it's my third time in the past 6 years. I've had MRIs, CAT Scans, X-Rays... I've been to accupuncturists (I highly recommend this!! it's better than a message!), neurologists, my OB/GYN to check hormone levels, even an ENT Dr... I had sinus surgery on the possibility that my headaches may be affected by a bone spur on the bone in my nose. (Yikes!! THAT was horrific!) But ultimately, to no avail. Headaches still there..
This time, I googled "headache clinic San Antonio." Up pops "The Headache Clinic." I check it out and make an appointment. My first appointment I see an MD and a PT. My appointment lasts for 3 hours!! (not 45 mins in the waiting room, then 14 mins with the Dr.... THREE HOURS with the PT and MD!!) The Dr asks me all kinds of questions, the normal background stuff. She asks then if I've ever had neck trauma... "hmm, Nope." "Have you ever been in a wreck?" "Well" I say, "I hit a tree going 40 mph. It was hard enough to dent the engine block of my mom's car, as well as knock a tooth out." "How long after the wreck did you start to get headaches?" she asks.. "About a year or so" I reply. "Do you think there might be a connection?" she says. So she gives me the normal neurological exam given for patients with migraines (it's to rule out a tumor, or disease, etc). I've taken this so many times, I feel a bit like Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street (at least in the original) when Dr. Schelheimer gives him a competancy exam.... I know all the answers by heart! :o)
The Dr thinks that some trauma, probably the car wreck, strained my neck muscles and they've never had a chance to recover. She explains that the next 6 weeks we're going to treat my neck like you would say, a sprained ankle. That means trying to give my neck muscles a break. She wants me to lie down with my head slightly elevated (this takes the weight of my noggin off of my neck) and deep breathe to relax the muscles. I'm to do this 4 - 6 times per day for 20 minutes a pop! (Did I mention I have FOUR kids, 8 and under?!?) The idea is this... rest the muscle as much as possible (including muscle relaxers), do some specific exercises to strengthen, use lasers to stimulate growth, and avoid things that might cause the muscles to get stressed.
She then asked if I've ever noticed that I get headaches after a long drive. Hmmm, like 24 hours straight to NC? or like 5 hours to Galveston (we went to the beach the weekend after arriving home...and I spent most of Saturday in bed with a super bad migraine) "Why Yes! I do have headaches after driving." She tells me to think about how much stress that puts on your neck -having your head bounce around all of the place.. it's the worst thing you can do, she says.)
Then I see the PT who first tests the tension in my muscles in my neck with some computer gizzmo... One particular muscle is stressed out to 800% above normal! Yikes! The PT asks more questions and then starts doing funky things with my neck.. He gives me homework... to do these exercises every 1 1/2 - 2 hours. That's very often... but I promise to try.
I'm up for anything at this point in the game... I've had a headache, bad enough to take medicine, for the past 37 days. I go home and start to implement what I've been told.
My sweet Jethro tells me that I look like a deranged chicken as I'm doing my neck exercises. He strongly cautions against doing them in public!
Then 3 days later, I board a bus headed for Bryan. I must go to a Cheer Clinic in order to be certified to be a cheer coach for my girls. I consider not going... I mean it's a car ride.. but I really can't NOT go, so I put on my very attractive stabilization collar (think neutered dog) and climb aboard... Bad choice.. the next day, I'm in the Bryan Civic Center, lying on the cold concrete floor where thousands have tread (eewwwwwww! yuk!) trying to give my neck a rest cuz I've already taken two migraine pills and they're not working!!! Consider me hooked on this whole notion of a strained neck! (Great.. I still have a trip home!)
So, here we are, 2 weeks later... I must see the PT twice a week and the MD once a week. I'm charting and tracking my symptoms, along with how much medicine I am taking.. I'm impressed!!! My headaches are nothing compared to what they were! Yes, I technically still am having them, but their intensity is dramatically reduced and they last only minutes instead of all day (and if I do my neck exercises, I can make them go away!!)... I've not taken a migraine pill in a week.. It's wonderful!!! Even if I had to do what I'm doing for the rest of my life, it would be worth it... but the best part of all is that I DON'T have to do this forever... Like a sprained ankle, you rest it, rehab it and then gradually start using it again... well, the same holds true for the neck.. This is a 6 week course! I'm so soaking stoked!!!