@caseygirlx0xmv What caught my attention in your story is that you had an injury with an impact to your face. That can be the source of the redness and heat. I have a similar situation with my ankle turning colors and throwing heat because of a bad fracture and surgeries for that 5 months ago. I am still rehabbing and getting improvement.

The other reason you story resonated is because I am a spine surgery patient after having had a whiplash injury twenty years earlier that lead to a spine problem. Hitting your face on a wall will send an impact into your spinal column and could stress or change the way your skull sits at the top of the spine, and muscle spasms can keep it locked in a bad position. Has a specialist looked for a spine or spine skull alignment issue for you?

I would seek out a spine specialist with skull base expertise for an evaluation or one who works on areas above C3. There are some spine issues that can change blood flow to the brain, such as bow hunter's syndrome where the arteries that run along the spine get stretched because of misalignment and twisting of the upper cervical spine. This is a more difficult issue that needs real expertise above and beyond the more common spine procedures. There are also physical therapists who do cranial work. The skull has joints that can get stuck, and generally with misalignment, it can can tightness in areas where blood vessels pass. My recommendation would be to come to Mayo if you can because many spine surgeons out there will not work on the upper cervical vertebrae because of the risks involved. Mayo has many more neurologic and orthopedic surgeons with specific subspecialty expertise that you don't usually find elsewhere except in other facilities that hold themselves to these high standards of care. That is why you need the cream of the crop for a surgeon. You'll need an expert to order the imaging and understand the results.

I did have lots of issues with my jaw being too tight on one side, and in addition to my spine issues, I also have thoracic outlet syndrome that causes my neck and shoulder muscle to be too tight that has at times locked my neck and kept me from being able to turn my head. TOS restricts blood flow to the head and it gets worse when you turn your head. You could have that too. Some patients can pass out from TOS. Injuries can cause problems that need rehabbing, and mis-alignments cause restrictions, headaches and pain. I had spine surgery 4 years ago to fuse C5C6 and free my compressed spinal cord. I've been in physical therapy for the TOS and jaw tightness which has helped a lot. I think you are still suffering from the effects of the injury. It's possible that rehab now could be your answer without any surgery. Some of the restrictions can connect and pull on the dura which is the covering of the spinal cord and brain which causes pain and headaches. You should get an evaluation because in time, spine problems and bone remodeling can develop if there are uneven pressures on the endplates of each vertebrae (the surfaces that abut the discs). In other words, rehab now, may be able to prevent a bigger problem later that could lead to a future surgery. If your doctors are not considering a physical problem from an injury to the spine, move on and find another opinion. Let me know if I can answer any related questions.