Decoding Headaches
It may start as a dull ache behind your eyes, be a lingering, searing pain across your temples, or come and go in a flash. An estimated 45 million people have headaches on a regular basis. Which type do you have?
A migraine is an intense headache lasting anywhere from 30 minutes to several days that causes throbbing or steady pain either on one or both sides of your head. Nausea, light sensitivity, dizziness or stomach pain frequently accompany migraines. Migraines often disrupt your daily life. Your doctor can help alleviate symptoms and work on migraine prevention.
Tension headaches are the most common type. The pain is moderate to mild, is accompanied by a tight feeling around the head and lacks the additional symptoms commonly seen with migraines.
If you experience tension headaches two or more times a week, talk with your doctor. Lifestyle changes, stress reduction techniques and other treatments may offer some relief.
Pain and pressure around the eyes, forehead and nose, accompanied by a runny nose, may be a sinus headache. This kind of headache is caused by an infection and often responds to antibiotics.
Sinus headaches and migraines share several symptoms. However, treatment with an antibiotic will not impact migraines, and sinus headaches generally don’t cause dizziness or light sensitivity. Your doctor can help diagnose sinus headaches and guide you to a course of treatment as needed.
In 2010, the FDA approved botulinum toxin as a treatment for chronic migraine sufferers who are unresponsive to other therapies. By paralyzing muscles, the treatment, used for a wide range of conditions from stopping muscle spasms to smoothing wrinkles, was found to reduce the number of days patients experienced migraines each month. The exact relationship between botulinum toxin and headaches is not fully understood, but it is thought that the treatment relaxes overactive muscles that might contribute to migraines. Another theory is that botulinum toxin reduces the reactions of nerve messengers related to migraine pain.
In the PREEMPT (Phase III Research Evaluating Migraine Prophylaxis Therapy) trial, botulinum toxin was shown to reduce the number of migraine days by 50 percent or more per month in 70 percent of participants.
A trained professional must administer botulinum toxin therapy. Treatment takes approximately 15 minutes, and effects can last up to three months.
If headaches interfere with the way you want to live your life, talk with your doctor about prevention and treatment options.
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