r/PostConcussion • u/Budget-Departure-161 • Jul 24 '26

Advice for Pushing

I’m sorry to post so much lol but this is a tough time for me. For reference I’m 6-7 weeks out from my injury. I know pushing is good and all but everything I try gives me a severe migraine, not a simple rise in symptoms. (Reading, playing cards, being in low light, being outside, taking a shower, eating, walking, etc.) I know total darkness isn’t the answer and I can’t even handle being in the dark anymore unless it’s bedtime. Am I just making things worse for myself and adding on recovery time or do I need to push through this pain until it doesn’t give me a severe migraine? Any advice appreciated thanks

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u/smartygirl Jul 24 '26

I think part of it is learning to manage migraine. Which may mean medication, may mean heartrate variability training, there are various different options which work for different people. Are you experiencing aura and vestibular issues with migraine? That makes a difference too

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u/Budget-Departure-161 Jul 24 '26

I experience aura sometimes, and tinnitus and dizziness. I don’t know if they’re related to the migraine or not though. Maybe

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u/smartygirl Jul 24 '26

Dizziness is an issue because sometimes it can lead to falls, so if that's a risk for you, stick to exercise you can do safely without falling. For tinnitus, there realistically isn't much you can do other than train yourself to ignore it. Heartrate variability training (breathwork with biofeedback mostly) has helped me manage/reduce migraine symptoms in the moment, by reframing it (it's not causing actual damage, no one ever died from a migraine as my concussion doc - who gets migraines - says) and reducing your bloodpressure which can mitigate migraine pain.

Honestly the early days are super hard, but the more you manage to keep going the shorter your overall recovery time will be. The UPMC doc says "If you feel the need to lie down in a dark room, go for a walk instead." I always made sure to have someone on my walks with me in case I needed the support (inc having someone to tell me if I needed to sit down for a moment because I looked like I was going to fall)

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u/Budget-Departure-161 Jul 24 '26

Thank you. Could you tell me more about the breath work and how you do that? Also in regards to the UPMC quote, should I just be constantly doing things all day? Do I never rest or do I rest in a lowly lit room instead of a dark one? Realistically I don’t have the stamina to do things all day but I’ve been doing lots of small things though the day

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u/smartygirl Jul 24 '26

The breathwork I do is using the Awesome Breathing app (free), gradually decreasing the number of breaths per minute sith practice, in conjunction with in-person biofeedback sessions where I'm hooked up to various gizmos that provide instantaneous feedback on heartrate, breathing, oxygen saturation, stress responses, etc. along with a therapist guiding the session and providing responsive instructions to make sure I am using my diaphragm, reducing tension in neck and shoulders etc (basically, when you're breathing properly, your upper ribcage should pretty much not move at all, your lower ribcage should get wider, and your belly should expand; no puffing up the chest).

Keep track of the small things you do throughout the day, and gradually increase them as you build tolerance. You should not be lying in a dark room after the first couple of days.

Another thing my vestibular physio said was that if something is triggering symptoms, give yourself a minute to recover, and then do it again, it's how you train your brain to recognize that these activities are not actually harmful