14 and Feeling Hopeless Again

Hello everyone. I don't really know how to handle all of this.

I had a mild concussion in May of 2019. No loss of consciousness, no blackout, no physical symptoms upon medical visit. No real reason for concern, except for head pain which had already been frustratingly apparent the past two months prior to the incident.

The pain continued and I went to the Doctors office again, still finding no real cause for concern. It was stated that this issue would be resolved at worst by the end of the week.

About two weeks after the incident, and I took a plane trip for the summertime. Still had frustrating pain, but still tried to enjoy the stay. Coming home after the returning plane ride, however, I had never before apparent tinnitus. I went to the Dr. about this, but they didn't show any cause for concern based on physical evaluation, and just told me that this would be something I would have to deal with best as possible.

Two months later, with the noise progressively getting louder and louder, I went to a specifically ear doctoral visitation. They showed some mild loss of hearing, and a lot of fluids in both of my ears which would need draining. After that was orchestrated, the hearing scores went back into stable ranges, but the sound continued. I do believe it decreased in the fall, however.

Because by September and October my physical pain had not subdued, I got a scanning, neurology, and specialist visit. The scanning and cognitive testing done did not show any sign for concern, once again. In the midst of going to these appointments, I got placed on school bound, which was wholly uncooperative. I then became homeschooled after I began going to therapy.

As I had been there four years earlier for other concerns, I had previous cognitive testings to compare my scores I took at that establishment to. The scores were in valid range, some slightly higher, some slightly lower, except for the processing speed. I have begun CBT and have found that while the relief I have received from it is very slow, it is a helpful experience which brings hope. I begin feeling pretty positive about the whole situation in December and early this month.

A few weeks ago, though, I awoke with noise louder than ever before. I was quickly discouraged by this, if you can imagine. It carried on for several more days, consistently getting louder and more discouraging. When I did bring this up to my therapist, she suggested a medicine which she was taking for the same reason in times of winter sickness. I thought it made sense, as the medicine could reduce any fluids or sickness in the ears causing the sounds. Today however, after a few days of using it to only minimal success, it is even louder than before. It is not impossible to enjoy myself and ignore it when I am doing the most entertaining of activities, but in any other context it is so sufferable. The lessons I have integrated for my chronic pain have been partially successful for that issue, but it doesn't reduce the stress or lack of concentration of this one. I don't know how this can be handled for decades or years.

 

Welcome, sorry to hear you've had to battle with this so young. I don't have any experience with concussions so I wouldn't be of much help. Hopefully others can chime in. Hang in there.

 

@ParanoidTeen321 Skip down to 'Discussion' section in this article. Discussion is about a head injury and how it relates to auditory. It's really not important to understand what is being said, as most focus for healing probably needs to be place on your neck. The only need for you with auditory association per tinnitus is avoidance of loud noise. For concussion and whiplash, avoidance to loud noise is needed.

https://jnnp.bmj.com/content/65/4/523

It's important to know how you received concussion. Was your neck also twisted and/or hyperextended? Were you involved in an activity (sports maybe) where you had involvement before your incident? Need to consider if you had hit your head or twisted/hyperextended your neck before.

I would be careful with neck twisting and forward extension of neck. For example, bend at the knees when picking up a piece of paper off a floor. I would not do sit-ups.

Do you know if your C spine has straighten? X Ray.

Vein and arteries within the neck that also associates to nerves that go the brainstem and ears may be the problem causing tinnitus. Ultrasound of veins and arteries of the neck. Repeated brain scans may not be needed.

Use correct posture and avoid loud noise and you should see tinnitus improvement within a few more months.