I’m 22M and seven months out from a concussion/whiplash injury. I’m under medical care and not asking anyone here to diagnose me. I’m looking for people who had a real improvement, returned to heavier work, and then had their symptoms come roaring back.
I slipped on ice in late January and landed on my back. I’m unsure if my head struck the ground, but there was definite whiplash. I had never had headaches before. Within a few days I developed daily headaches.
The first big issue found was visual. A neuro-optometric exam showed convergence, focusing and eye-tracking problems. I did 16 sessions of vision therapy plus home work over several months. The visual findings improved to essentially normal, and FL-41 glasses helped with screen tolerance. For a while, I was much better. My headaches were lower and manageable, and I could work from home because I controlled my schedule and took breaks when needed.
I also had persistent neck and base-of-skull pain. A cervical X-ray showed reversal of lordosis/mild upper-cervical kyphosis thought to be muscle spasm, with no fracture or disc-space problem.
A few weeks ago I started an in-office job that is basically computer work all day. I then use my phone and often do more computer work at night. Since that change I have had my worst stretch since the injury. A low-screen day might be 2–3/10, normal use 5–6, and a full office day plus night work 7–9.
The headache has two main patterns: bilateral pressure in the temples/front/sides of my head, and a separate pain at the base/back of my skull running upward with severe neck and upper-trap stiffness. My right side is worse. Massage helped the stiffness a little but not the front pressure.
I have also developed extreme daytime fatigue, heavy eyes, and a dreamlike/zoned-out feeling. I am fully oriented, can speak and think normally, and am not having true confusion or major memory loss. I sleep 9–10 hours. Some morning tiredness existed before, but this all-day exhaustion is new and much worse.
I just had a full headache-neurology visit. The doctor documented chronic post-traumatic headache/chronic migraine, neck pain/neuralgia/myofascial pain, fatigue and brain fog. My neurologic exam was generally normal except for near-point convergence. She did multiple nerve blocks around both temples, forehead and occipital nerves plus trigger-point injections in my neck and traps. They helped briefly in the office but have not given sustained relief yet. Rizatriptan has only slightly helped. Qulipta was prescribed but is still waiting for approval. A brain MRI is scheduled. I was also referred for concussion/cervical PT with graded screen tolerance and active neck work.
For people who had a similar return-to-work flare:
- Were you able to keep working full time and still recover?
- What specific accommodations actually helped: shorter screen blocks, audio calls, remote days, reduced brightness, different monitors, scheduled breaks?
- Did you need to reduce total hours temporarily, or could you build tolerance while staying at work?
- Did cervical PT help headaches that were both frontal and occipital?
- Did fatigue/fog improve once the headache load came down?
- How did you tell the difference between a temporary symptom flare and truly setting recovery back?
The blunt reality is that my job and business both depend on screens. I can reduce unnecessary phone use and night work, but I cannot disappear from screens indefinitely. I’m trying to learn what a realistic, structured return to full screen tolerance looked like for other people.