I have mentioned Hemicrania Continua a few times in my blogs assuming that you are familiar with this condition.
Hemicrania Continua is a headache characterised by constant pain on one side of the head (and always on the same side), of moderate severity, with episodes of aggravation. Hemicrania responds to the medication known as Indomethacin.
Hemicrania Continua [...]
Headache is the most common symptom after a head injury. Post traumatic headaches, like non traumatic migraine and tension headache for some reason pose a significant challenge for clinicians and are surrounded by controversy. Because the neurological examination after mild head injury is normal and standard tests as well as imaging studies (such as MRI [...]
‘Benign’ (or harmless) Exertional Headache is defined as headache caused by exertion such as coughing, sneezing, bending, heavy lifting, running (how is this different to headache triggered by exercise?) or when straining at stool.
It is important that if your headache history is less than 3 months and is triggered or aggravated by these activities that [...]
Another example of migraine headache being relieved within 30 seconds after injection of the greater occipital nerve.
Need I say more ….. just part of the overwhelming evidence for cervicogenic involvement in migraine …. but there is more!
Blocking the greater occipital nerve in 14 cluster headache patients substantially decreased their symptoms with the researchers suggesting that [...]
Not only can the pain of migraine be relieved by injecting the greater occipital nerve but also the aura.
In two patients with hemiplegic migraine their aura symptoms were completely stopped within 5 minutes and without the usual following headache.
Interestingly this is very similar to my clinical experience. I have had the opportunity to treat two [...]
Further to my comment earlier, the ‘triptans’ have been shown to be useful in differentiating migraine from sinus headache.
As in past studies patients with a self-diagnosis or physician-diagnosis of ‘sinus’ headache were assessed. An overwhelming 82% had a significant reduction in their headache symptoms.
This extraordinary response provides further (not that any more is required!) evidence [...]
In survey of 75 patients who had undergone surgery for facial pain all had ongoing symptoms. The researchers concluded that the causes of symptoms were migraine, cluster headache, paroxysmal hemicrania and tension headache, and that sinus surgery in the large majority of patients presenting with facial pain should avoid surgery; that all surgeons when assessing [...]
Interesting to note that by blocking or ‘numbing’ the greater occipital nerve, the pain of migraine, sensitivity to light and tendereness are all significantly reduced – further evidence to support that abnormal cervicogenic (neck) information could be the source of sensitisation in the migraine process.
(Young, W. et al The first 5 minutes after greater occipital [...]
