New York Headache blog

Recently, a patient of mine reported that cramp bark has significantly improved her menstrual migraines. Cramp bark is a common shrub with red berries. Its bark has been used for over 100 years for muscle cramps, menstrual...

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) with an electrode implanted in the neck is an FDA-approved treatment for depression and epilepsy, when these conditions do not respond to medications. Since antidepressant and anti-epilepsy medications...

Menopause often brings relief to female migraine sufferers. However, many women have worsening of their migraines during the transition. This is thought to be due to the fluctuating levels of estrogen, which is also responsible...

Several of my patients with trigeminal neuralgia (TN) responded to Botox injection (although some have not). My previous post on this topic four years ago discussed a study involving 40 patients with TN, of whom 68% responded to Botox...

An ENT colleague recently referred to me a patient with very persistent sensation of pressure in her sinuses. She’d had sinus surgery which relieved pain in one of her sinuses, but the pressure sensation persisted...

If you are interested in learning to meditate, but don’t know how to get started, go to Dr. Tara Brach’s website for help. It offers her free weekly podcasts that will guide you through the process. Tara Brach is a psychologist and a buddhist, who after...

It was a great privilege to know Elie Wiesel, survivor of Auschwitz, Nobel Peace Prize winner, author of 40 books, university professor, and most importantly, a tireless campaigner for human rights. Mr. Wiesel suffered from severe...

Tremor of the hands is usually a benign condition. It is even called, benign essential tremor or, if it runs in the family, benign familial tremor. Patients with tremor are twice as likely to have migraines, so this is why I am writing about it...

A new report presented at the last annual scientific meeting of the American Headache Society in San Diego showed that post-concussion symptoms can be helped by an intravenous infusion of magnesium. Doctors at the department of neurology...

Should you sleep on the right or on the left side? Researchers led by Dr. Helene Benveniste of Stony Brook University discovered that sleeping on the right side provides better drainage of toxins out of the brain, at least in rats...

Medication overuse headache (MOH), which is sometimes called rebound headache, is included in the International Classification of Headache Disorders. However, this is one of several headache types whose existence is still debated. However, this is one...

Chronic migraine afflicts more than 4 million Americans, but shockingly less than 5% of them receive appropriate care, according to a new study just published in the journal Headache. Chronic migraine sufferers experience headaches on...

Zecuity, a transdermal sumatriptan patch has been reported to cause skin burns and scarring, according to the FDA. The FDA has started an investigation, but the manufacturer, Teva Pharmaceuticals has decided to pull the...

Hemiplegic and basilar migraine are rare types of migraine. Hemiplegic migraine is accompanied by a paralysis of one side of the body. Basilar migraine derives its name from the basilar artery, which supplies blood to the brainstem...

Post-concussion symptoms have long been thought to be more severe and prolonged in people who have pre-existing psychological problems. This has been shown to be the case in the military personnel. A new study confirmed this observation...

Intravenous magnesium infusions may not be as safe in pregnant women as it has been always thought. The FDA recently moved intravenous magnesium from category A into category D (see category definitions below). This came about after the FDA...

Dr. Leo Galland, whom I’ve known professionally for many years, has written (with his son) another outstanding book, The Allergy Solution. Sometimes I see a patient, who in addition to migraine headaches, suffers from a variety of other ailments...

Sumatriptan (Imitrex) and similar drugs (so called triptans) are “designer” drugs that were specifically developed for the treatment of migraine headaches. They are very effective, but do not help all migraine sufferers. Anti-inflammatory pain killers...

The FDA approved Botox injections for the treatment of chronic migraine headaches more than five years ago. I just discovered that in this period of time only 100,000 chronic migraine sufferers received this treatment...

Yoga is the most impactful import from India to the US. Yoga has many documented health benefits, including relief of headaches. I have been practicing Bikram yoga about twice a week for nearly 12 years. About a year ago I started having some...

I have not been aware of any research indicating a link between salt intake and migraines. A study just published in the journal Headache by researchers at Stanford and UCLA looked at this possible connection...

Caffeine is a well-know trigger of migraine headaches and I regularly write on this topic (my last post on this topic – caffeine causing headaches in adolescents – was three years ago). Caffeine can help migraines and other headaches, but in large...

Ketamine is a sedating agent used to induce anesthesia. It is also a drug of abuse with street names such as “Special K” or “Ket”. Ketamine has many advantages, which makes it a very popular choice in anesthesia. It works fast, blocks pain...

Fibromyalgia is a condition comorbid with migraine, which means that migraine sufferers are more likely to have fibromyalgia and those with fibromyalgia are more likely to have migraines (such relationships are not always bidirectional)...

A patient of mine just emailed me about a recent segment of the TV show, The Doctors, which featured a woman whose severe chronic migraines were cured by nasal surgery. The segment was shot a few weeks after the surgery, so it is...

Marijuana has been tried for a variety of medical conditions, including migraines, and in one of my previous post I mentioned dangers of smoking it. Medical marijuana does not have the same dangers since it is not smoked...

There has been some backlash against meditation with newspapers publishing articles claiming that meditation is overrated. Fortunately, serious scientists continue to publish solid objective data proving that meditation not only relieves pain...

Prilosec (omeprazole), Nexium, Prevacid, and other similar drugs in the family of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) can cause headaches directly, but more often by reducing the absorption of vitamins such as B12 and D, and minerals such...

Treatment of medical conditions with electricity was first used by the ancient Romans who used electric eels to treat headaches, gout and in obstetrics. Electric shock therapy for depression was one of the earliest widespread uses of electricity in...

Pituitary gland which is located inside the skull and underneath the brain is responsible for secreting various hormones. Pituitary adenoma is a benign tumor of this gland and it often causes increased release of either prolactin, growth hormone, or cortisol...