Educating About Headache

One Sided Headache or Migraine Pain

Is your headache or migraine one sided? If yes, is it always on the same side or can it swap sides? For example, if your headache or migraine is on the right on one occasion, can it be on the left on the next occasion? If yes, is it always on the same side or

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Commentary - Greater Occipital Nerve

Greater Occipital Nerve

And Primary Headache Because primary headache often includes pain in the back of the head, anaesthetic blockade of the greater occipital nerve (GON) has become an increasingly common practice,1 despite denunciation of its value on the basis that it supplies only the skin, muscles and vessels of the scalp which are not established sources of

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The Traditional Medical Model of Headache

Where to From Here With Diagnosis? Abnormalities of the upper neck are thought not to play a causal role in headache and migraine conditions. It follows then that disorders of the neck are largely ignored in headache and migraine diagnosis. The traditional medical model of headache and migraine does not consider abnormalities of the upper neck

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Commentary - Misconception 3 of 10

Misconception 3 of 10

Complex Presentations That seemingly complex presentations with a multitude of (often unusual) symptoms means multiple causes requiring multidisciplinary approach – wrong! Complex presentations are often chronic and the original disorder has now been swamped by a myriad of symptoms (also known as a school of ‘red herrings’!). For example a ‘splinter’ that hasn’t been located

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Why Headache and Migraine Treatment Often Fails

Summarising the Reasons Why Several authorities recently summarised the reasons why headache and migraine treatment often fails. Amongst other things, they suggested that the diagnosis is incomplete or incorrect and that this could occur for various reasons. One of the reasons is ‘misdiagnosis’. I have mentioned this research before but diagnosing headache and migraine is like

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Misconception 2 of 10

Chronicity That chronicity means protracted treated and unsatisfactory outcomes – wrong! The underlying disorder in headache and migraine is a sensitised brainstem and chronicity is underpinned by central sensitisation. This is how the ‘triptans’ (heavy duty anti-migraine medication) abort migraine – they desensitise the brainstem21-23 – temporarily of course because they do not change the

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