Jack Alston has been a passionate football player for most of his life, yet he struggled to break the habit of leading with his head during games. In August 2024, during a practice session, he sustained a significant hit. Despite the force of the impact, he did not show the usual signs of a concussion, such as losing consciousness or vomiting.
Initially, Jack only experienced a mild headache. Given his history of migraines, he did not think much of it at first. However, the headache persisted. “It didn’t really go away,” Jack, then in the eighth grade, recalled. Football was his passion, and he chose to keep the pain from his parents to avoid missing practices or games. Caroline Alston, his mother, later expressed regret, stating that she would have prevented him from playing had she known the extent of his condition. “We just assumed he was OK. We didn’t follow up,” she reflected. “I think that’s where we made a mistake.”
Two weeks later, Jack suffered another blow during a game. Again, he remained conscious and did not exhibit typical concussion symptoms, finishing the match. However, the pain intensified sharply afterward.
Jack described his daily pain as an “eight or nine” out of ten, prompting his parents to withdraw him from the team. Doctors diagnosed him with a concussion, but none could alleviate his suffering. “It never, ever left. It was awful,” Jack said. “Imagine having pain like that as a 14-year-old.”
The Alston family sought help from various specialists, including pediatricians, neurologists, and chiropractors. They attempted dietary changes and even traveled from Kentucky to Georgia to consult sports medicine experts who worked with the Atlanta Falcons. Despite their efforts, nothing seemed to ease Jack’s pain. “We were kind of throwing things at the wall,” Alston said. “We went everywhere we possibly could. We had tried everything we could possibly do to try and find a solution. Nothing, nothing was bringing him down from a nine out of ten.”
During this time, Jack struggled to concentrate in school, often needing to rest in the nurse’s office. He missed out on social activities and extracurriculars, finding reading particularly challenging. Frequent medical appointments also took a toll on his academic performance.
Eventually, the Alstons were referred to the Cleveland Clinic, where they met Dr. Konstantinos Tourlas, a pediatric neurologist and headache expert, on January 31, 2025. Dr. Tourlas diagnosed Jack with persistent post-traumatic headache, a condition characterized by headaches lasting longer than three months, often following head injuries. According to Dr. Todd Schwedt, president of the American Headache Society, individuals with migraines, like Jack, are more prone to developing this condition, especially those with prior concussions or head injuries. Treatment varies for each patient, as there is no FDA-approved medication specifically for post-concussion headaches.
Dr. Tourlas initiated treatment with a nerve block to provide temporary relief and prescribed an oral medication, which had limited effects. In March 2025, he performed another nerve block and admitted Jack to the pediatric infusion center at the Cleveland Clinic for intravenous medication. This method can be more effective, as the medication enters the bloodstream more readily.
Over five days, Dr. Tourlas experimented with various medication combinations, resulting in a decrease in Jack’s baseline headache pain from a nine to a five out of ten. Following this improvement, another round of oral medications was attempted, but when this too proved ineffective, Jack was re-admitted for another five-day infusion in September 2025. “It was a hard time,” Alston recalled. “At one point he said, ‘I just want to go home. I don’t want to do this anymore.’”
On the final day of treatment, Jack’s pain had reduced to a three out of ten, and a third round of oral medication was administered, which ultimately worked. On September 22, over a year after his headaches began, Jack informed Dr. Tourlas that he was pain-free. “It was like a waterfall sensation,” Jack described. “Like everything was falling off, like the pain was falling away.”
Now 14 years old, Jack reports feeling “really good” since his headaches subsided. He has recently taken up lacrosse and is contemplating rejoining the football team for his sophomore year. “I’m not going to lead with my head anymore. That’s a lesson I’ve learned,” he joked.
Caroline Alston remains cautious about Jack returning to football, as Dr. Tourlas cautioned that another concussion could lead to a recurrence of his previous condition. “I’m concerned about that happening again because we could wind ourselves right back up at Cleveland Clinic trying to solve this problem again,” she said. She expressed hope that Jack might prefer lacrosse over football, saying, “But we’d love for him to be the kicker. We’d love for him to do something other than be on the line. But that’s his choice.”
In the meantime, Jack has been engaging in new hobbies, including caring for a parakeet and learning to play the guitar. He is also weightlifting and preparing to apply to the United States Merchant Marine Academy, aspiring to earn a master’s degree in naval architecture and engineering with plans to design cruise ships. Caroline Alston finds comfort in seeing him return to a normal life. “We’re just grateful he’s back to being able to study and read and learn,” she said. “It’s awesome to have him back on track and back in the classroom and playing sports and being able to be a kid.”
