For numerous years I was disabled with migraines which happened almost daily. The condition went undiagnosed since the accompanying gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea and diarrhea) led my doctors to believe I had some kind of repeating virus.

One particularly disparaging neurologist, renowned for his lack of bedside manner, clung to the belief  headaches originated in my sinuses, prescribing a saline rinse twice daily, without success. For folks with sinus troubles, a saline rinse ranks well among the safe, cheap natural curatives, but an x-ray or CT scan should be taken to eliminate the possibility of a structural problem.

Several medications and procedures were time-tested, including Botox injections to my forehead. Natural remedies like homeopathy, Reiki, and massage weren’t adequate to the stop the pain in my head.

A neurologist eventually realised that a combination of medications including a preventative dose of Depakote at bedtime, Promethazine as needed to relieve nausea, and Zomig.

Depakote works as a prophylactic, or preventative, medication, cutting back the frequency and severity of attacks. It should be noted that Depakote induces considerable weight gain, and should not be taken by pregnant women.

Zomig is most efficacious if it’s taken at the start of headaches. Fortunately for me, Masshealth provides excellent prescription coverage, as Zomig is too expensive to buy out of pocket. Zomig is part of a class of medications called triptans, which includes Relpax, Maxalt, Imitrex and Amerge. Triptans work by raising your tolerance to migraine pain, and are taken to abort, rather than prevent the migraine. While highly effective in alleviating headache symptoms, triptans should not be regarded as a cure; if the duration of the headache exceeds the effective period of the medication, the patient can end up suffering so-called rebound headaches.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) such as ibuprofen (Motrin) or Naprosyn are usually more effective in providing relief for tension headache than aspirin or Tylenol.

Various factors can trigger migraines, including bright light, stress, lack of sleep, and certain foods, such as chocolate and garlic. In my case, the primary trigger seems to be artificial fragrances. The doctor advised that fragrance hypersensitivity might be prodromal, which is to say, symptomatic of the onset of a migraine. Fragrance sensitivity may be a social disablement, as a lot of people use either scented shampoo’s, makeup, or aftershave.

I’ve discovered becoming overheated (like having too many blankets in bed) could additionally trigger or exacerbate headaches. A variety of headache called the exercise-induced migraine has been recognized in recent years. Headaches brought on by sexual activity usually have a vascular component. Treatments for headaches of this variety include NSAIDs, applying a cold compress to the forehead, and lying in a dark, quiet room.

Technorati Tags: head, head aches, migraine, migraines, pain, relief for tension headache, sinus

There cannot be many of us who have not experienced a headache at some point and yet, in spite of the fact that they are so common, their cause is something of a mystery. Also, though we generally talk about a headache it is surprising how few people are aware that there are in fact several different types of headache.

For instance, migraines affect approximately 10% of the US population (in the region of twenty-eight million individuals) and afflict three times more women than men. And yet, although such a large number of people suffer frequently from migraine headaches, we still do not know what causes them. There are of course several theories, the most recent of which holds that they are caused by the interaction of chemicals within the brain like serotonin and the nerve cells of the brain, but we really do not know for sure whether or not this is the cause.

Cluster headaches, which are far rarer but also far more intense than migraines, affect approximately one person in every three hundred and tend to afflict men rather than women. Again however we only have a tentative idea about just what causes the stabbing pain that is often felt behind one eye in these especially painful headaches. A few people suspect that the cause could be a defect in the hypothalamus but, as yet, there is no good evidence to support this theory.

The most common type of headache is what we generally refer to as ordinary or tension-type headaches and again these are not well understood. In this case the list of possible causes is very long and includes everything from what we eat to the amount of stress we are under. Attempting to pinpoint a precise cause has eluded us so far however and exactly what leads to the ordinary everyday headache is still a mystery.

The only saving grace however is that we do have a large number of medications available to us to deal with the various forms of headache and most of these are both safe and effective for most sufferers.

Migraine headaches have proved hard to treat for a long time and the ergot drugs previously used to treat them showed varying degrees of success. These drugs were then replaced by triptan drugs which were more effective but which unfortunately had several problems. Nowadays however the second generation of triptan drugs are proving to be safe, have fewer shortcomings and work well for the majority of sufferers.

There has also been an increase in the use of preventive medications for migraine headaches such as calcium channel blockers, beta blockers, anti-depressants, anti-seizure medications and several other drugs that are commonly used to treat other well known conditions. For many people these medications will stop headaches from attacking at all, while for other people they act to reduce the frequency with which headaches occur.

For common headaches over-the-counter remedies like aspirin or paracetamol (which have been around for over 100 years) and newer medications like ibuprofen provide safe and effective relief in the majority of cases. For people who suffer from frequent headaches though care needs to be taken because even the humble aspirin can produce side effects if taken too frequently.

In spite of the fact that there is still so much that we do not understand about what causes chronic headaches the fact that we can treat them successfully is comforting to the many sufferers and particularly to the large number of people who suffer from often extremely debilitating migrane headaches. However, surprisingly enough, only about half of all migraine headache sufferers ever seek medical advice and so there are millions of people today needlessly suffering in silence.

If you suffer from headaches and find that simple over-the-counter medications such as paracetamol or aspirin do not work then, rather that suffer in silence, drop in to see your physician who will almost certainly be able to help to relieve your headaches.

Technorati Tags: cluster headaches, headache, migraine, migrane, sinus headaches, tension headaches