New York Headache blog

Cluster headache is one of the most painful conditions that has lead some patients call it a suicide headache. A new observational study done by researchers at the Eli Lilly company and Stanford University was presented at the recent...

Trigeminal neuralgia is a rare, but an extremely painful conditions. Patients compare the quality and the severity of pain to an electric shock. The underlying cause is usually compression of the trigeminal nerve by a blood vessel...

Concussion, even when it is mild, can result in a post-concussion syndrome. The main symptom is a headache and it is present in 60% of people within the first year after a mild traumatic brain injury. In people with personal or family...

Stem cells hold great promise in the treatment of many conditions, possibly including migraines. In a post from 3 years ago I’ve written about a report from Australia that described 4 patients with refractory chronic headaches...

Unfortunately, opioid hydromorphone (Dilaudid) is still administered to 25% of patients with an acute migraine visiting an ER. Benjamin Friedman and his colleagues at the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx compared the efficacy...

We are in great need of better preventive treatments for migraines. CGRP monoclonal antibodies appear to fulfil their early promise. At the recent annual meeting of the American Headache Society four companies presented their...

Many migraine sufferers complain about worsening of their migraines when they travel to high altitudes. But do people who permanently live at high altitudes are more likely to have migraines? A report published in the European Journal of Neurology...

Medical marijuana has been legalized in NY and more than 20 other states. It is approved in NY for several medical conditions, including pain and some of my patients with headaches (about one out of 3), arthritis, and other pains...

Searching on Amazon for books on migraines yields over 2,291 items. Do we need another book? Having just read the latest book on migraines, Understanding Your Migraines, the answer is a definite yes. The book is written by two...

The most satisfying part of our work is that we can help more than 95% of our patients. However, a small number of headache sufferers defy our best efforts and continue to have severe pain, which ruins their quality of life. I just returned from...

Temporal arteritis occurs in one out of 5,000 people over 50. Women are 3-4 times more likely to be affected. It is not common below the age of 60 and becomes more prevalent with the advancing age. Temporal arteritis is also known as giant...

Preeclampsia and eclampsia are complications of pregnancy which manifest by a severe headache and high blood pressure. If left untreated, they can cause strokes and kidney failure. Fortunately, these conditions are very responsive...

Inhalation of pure oxygen under high flow is an effective treatment for an acute cluster headache, although not migraines. Headache is one of the most common symptoms of traumatic brain injury and postconcussion syndrome and...

The field of marijuana research is starting to take off due to the wider acceptance of medicinal marijuana. The other night I attended a lecture in NYC by the “father of cannabis”, Raphael Mechoulam. According to Wikipedia, “Dr. Mechoulam...

Migraine sufferers are more likely to have insomnia than people without migraines. Depression and anxiety, which are more common in migraineurs can often lead to insomnia as well. Surveys indicate that 38% of migraine...

I am certain that you will learn a lot of useful information from listening to the top headache experts in the world. The event is free during the week when it is held (April 23 – 29), but afterwards you will have to pay for full access...

Stroke is slightly more common in migraine sufferers. There are two main types of stroke: hemorrhagic, which results from a burst blood vessel in the brain and ischemic, which is due to a blood clot closing off blood supply to a part...

Photophobia, or sensitivity to light is one of the most common symptoms that accompany a migraine attack. Many patients remains photophobic even after the headache has resolved. In some, a prolonged exposure to bright light...

Postconcussion symptoms can be debilitating and can persist for long periods of time, both in kids and adults. Persistence of headaches, dizziness, difficulty concentrating and with memory is often compounded by depression and anxiety...

Beta-blocker propranolol (Inderal) was first approved over 50 years ago for the treatment of hypertension and 10 years later became the first drug to be approved for the prevention of migraine headaches. Beta-blockers that followed, including...

A new electric device is being tested for the treatment of migraine by an Israeli company, Theranica. Transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS) has been successfully used for the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders for decades...

Cluster headaches are much less common than migraines (less than a million vs 36 million sufferers), but are arguably the most painful type of headaches a man can experience. And it is usually a man because cluster headaches are...

With 13 million participants, soccer is the third most popular sport in the US after basketball and baseball. Worldwide, 250 million people play soccer. Unfortunately, a number of studies have linked playing soccer with...

Naltrexone, along with naloxone are narcotic (opioid) antidotes, that is they counteract the effect of narcotics and are used to treat overdoses with heroin, fentanyl, Percocet, Vicodin, and other opioid drugs. Surprisingly, low doses...

Generic drugs should be cheap, but you still may be overpaying for them. I mentioned this problem in a previous post, but it bears repeating – your copay could be higher than an out-of-pocket price for some generic drugs. For example, 9 tablets...

We’ve adopted electronic medical records (EMR) over 10 years ago when the upfront costs were high and the training curve was steep. One of the reasons for our early adoption was that we were running out of space for paper...

Estrogen-based oral contraceptives are usually contraindicated for women who have migraines with aura. In the latest issue of the journal Headache, Dr. Anne Calhoun of the Carolina Headache Institute argues that this contraindication...

Physical and mental symptoms can persist after a concussion and strangely, mild concussions are more likely to cause persistent symptoms than severe ones. In a previous post, Rest your brain after a head injury I described a study that...

Italian researchers published a study in the journal Headache that attempted to correlate the attachment style in children with migraines with headache severity and psychological symptoms. Attachment style typically develops...

Botox is by far the safest and the most effective preventive treatment for chronic and frequent episodic migraine headaches. The only downside is the cost. A 200-unit vial of Botox costs about $1,200. Most insurance companies cover...