What causes headaches?
There are more than 150 types of headaches but, each belongs to one of two categories:
Primary headaches
Structures in your head cause primary headaches, so they’re not related to another disorder. A few examples of primary headaches include tension headaches, migraines, and cluster headaches.
Secondary headaches
Secondary headaches arise from an underlying health condition such as a jaw disorder, traumatic brain injury, concussion, or sinus congestion. A cervicogenic headache is a secondary headache that a problem in your neck, such as a sprain, fracture, arthritis, or tumor, causes.
What symptoms develop due to migraine headaches?
Migraines are one of the most intense types of headaches that often require specialized treatment. Though migraines can go through four stages of symptoms, including aura, most people don’t experience all four.
The only stage you’re certain to have is the migraine attack, when you experience symptoms such as:
- Severe, throbbing pain around one or both temples
- Sensitivity to smells, lights, or sounds
- Nausea and vomiting
- Vertigo
Migraines last at least four hours, and without treatment, they can go on for three days.
How do pain specialists treat headaches?
Medication is the initial treatment for headaches. Some improve with over-the-counter pain relievers, but more severe headaches need prescription medications.
The Rehab Doctors’ team may prescribe medication that you take at the start of your headache to reduce the pain. There are also medications for some types of headaches that you take every day to reduce the frequency of future headaches.
The Rehab Doctors’ team offers several specialized treatments for headaches, such as:
Botox® for chronic migraines
Botox is a preventive treatment for patients with chronic migraines. Your migraines are chronic when you have:
- 15 or more headache days every month
- At least eight of those days are migraines
- Each headache lasts four or more hours
- Each headache causes severe pain
The Rehab Doctors’ team gives multiple Botox injections into the muscles beneath the skin. When you continue to get a Botox treatment every 12 weeks, the medication reduces the frequency and severity of future migraines.
Occipital nerve block
A nerve block is an injection containing an anesthetic and a corticosteroid. The placement of the injection is on or near a nerve, where the anesthetic blocks the pain signals, and the corticosteroid reduces nerve inflammation.
The occipital nerves run from the spine through your neck muscles and up the back of your scalp. Upper neck pain and the pain of migraines, cervicogenic, cluster, and other headaches are relieved when your The Rehab Doctors provider injects an occipital nerve block.
If you have recurrent or severe headaches, call The Rehab Doctors, or schedule an appointment online.
