Headache Clinic

This is the most common headache. In most patients it expresses itself with relatively moderate pain that does not bring the patient in to the clinic. But sometimes the pain becomes chronic and frequent, with days of pain and disruptions in lifestyle.

These patients need preventative treatment and monitoring. The pain is generally described as pressure around the head and sensitivity to touch on the scalp. It is usually not accompanied by other symptoms.

The mechanisms causing tension headaches are not completely understood. Treatment for this type of headache includes painkillers as needed, while avoiding overuse, and for some, preventative drugs treatment.

This is a less common headache than migraines or tension headaches, but it still causes great suffering, due to the high intensity of the pain. This headache is more common in men than in women, and generally appears in younger people although at ages a little older than the average migraine sufferer.

In most patients, the pain appears in clusters, lasting for a few weeks, with breaks of months. At the time of the cluster, the patient suffers from strong headache attacks, one-sided, usually around the eye or the forehead, accompanied by tearing, redness in the eye on the same side, and nasal discharge. The pain usually lasts for an hour or two and can awaken the patient from his or her sleep.

The treatment for a bad attack is Imitrex injections, a drug from the triptan group, or by inhaling oxygen. It is important to give the patients preventative treatment for the duration of the cluster. The most effective drug for this is Verapamil.

The doctor will usually recommend short-term steroid treatment in order to reduce the frequency of the attacks. Some patients with cluster headaches suffer from the chronic version of the illness, with no breaks in between clusters.

This is a headache which stems from an illness in the upper spine, the neck joint. It is very common among older people suffering from degenerative changes in the neck area of the spine. Similarly, it can appear at any age in people who have suffered injury in this area. The pain is usually one-sided, and is exacerbated by moving the neck. There is often localized sensitivity in the nape or the occipital area. These patients best respond to occipital nerve block treatment and need physiotherapy.

This is a headache that appears suddenly, and is usually very strong. The pain is liable to be accompanied by nausea and vomiting. The presence of such a headache is a very worrying symptom because it could be a result of a life-threatening illness such as intracranial bleeding, or a tear or a spasm in the blood vessels in the brain or neck. If this pain appears, go immediately to the ER for tests and treatment.

This is a headache that can be caused by a number of early headaches such as migraines or tension headaches, and usually appears years after the original illness. However, only a relatively small proportion of headache patients get to this stage. Nevertheless, they do represent quite a percentage of all patients in the headache treatment centers. These people suffer from a significant reduction in their functioning as a result of this chronic pain.

Many also suffer from anxiety and depression. A common occurrence with these patients is overusing painkillers, which ultimately worsens the pain. Treating these patients is complex and demands cooperation between neurologists, psychologists, dieticians and sleep disorder specialists. Sometimes the patient will need to be hospitalized, with intravenous treatment. With the right treatment, these patients can escape the chronic pain cycle and see great improvements in their functioning abilities.