New York Headache blog

My most commented on blog post (over 150 comments) is on the daily use of triptans. A new report confirms the safety of long-term daily use of sumatriptan injections in cluster patients. Cluster headaches are arguably the most severe type of...

Sumatriptan is now available in a nasal powder form. We already have sumatriptan in a tablet, injection, nasal spray, and a skin patch. I mentioned this product over 5 years ago and finally it was just approved by the FDA. This does not mean...

Headache is usually the main presenting symptom of temporal arteritis (also known as giant cell arteritis, or GCA), which is caused by inflammation of blood vessels. This condition happens almost exclusively in the elderly. It presents with...

Trigeminal neuralgia is an extremely painful condition which causes jolts of very intense electric-like pains in the face. Fortunately, many trigeminal neuralgia sufferers respond to medications or Botox injections.Several surgical procedures have...

The little white spots seen on brain MRI scans have long been thought to be benign. A nagging concern has always persisted since their meaning has remained unclear. A recent study by researchers at several medical centers across the US...

Asthma is more common in migraine sufferers and migraine is more common in those who suffer from asthma (the medical term is co-morbid conditions). A new study published in Headache examines a possible connection between...

A hole between the left and the right side of the heart has been suspected to be the cause of migraines in some people. However, closing this hole has not produced dramatic improvement in several blinded studies that have been conducted...

Magnesium deficiency is a regular topic on this blog. Up to half of migraine sufferers are deficient in magnesium, but magnesium levels are rarely checked by doctors. Even when magnesium level is checked, it is usually the serum level, which is...

Meditation is growing in popularity and deservedly so. Several of my previous posts mentioned the benefit of meditation in migraine headaches. Scientists are conducting rigorous studies that repeatedly show the profound effect meditation has...

Inpatient migraine headache treatment in the US is usually limited to a five-day course of intravenous DHE and other medications. Even such brief admissions are not always approved by the insurance companies...

23andMe offers direct-to-consumer genetic testing by analyzing a saliva sample. It provides information on predisposition for more than 90 traits and conditions ranging from acne to Alzheimer’s. Health-related results were suspended by the FDA...

Magnesium infusion given before or during surgery reduces the amount of opioid analgesics (narcotics) needed in the 24 hours following surgery. Doctors at the Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, NJ reviewed 14 of the most rigorous...

Sphenopalatine ganglion (SPG) block has been used for the treatment of headaches and other pain conditions for over 100 years. The original method involved placing a long Q-tip-like cotton swab dipped in cocaine through the nose and against the SPG....

Since my early 20s I’ve been getting visual auras without a headache several times a year. I still get them in my late 50’s and they still occur without a headache. In my 40s I started to have migraine headaches without an aura. My migraines are always...

Acupuncture and Alexander technique appear to be equally effective and significantly more effective for the treatment of chronic neck pain than routine care, according to a study by British researchers published in the latest issue of the...

Richard Wenzel PharmD of the Diamond Headache Clinic in the latest issue of the leading medical journal, Headache writes about the shocking fact that this country’s pharmaceutical industry cannot reliably supply medications for patients. He also...

Solar activity is high again – NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory reported a flare on October 1. And in the past two weeks we’ve been seeing many more patients whose cluster headaches returned. The last time we had a surge in the number...

A report describing delivery of magnesium through the skin for the treatment of fibromyalgia has just appeared in the Journal of Integrative Medicine. The title of the report is, Effects of transdermal magnesium chloride...

Zecuity, a skin patch containing a migraine drug sumatriptan was approved by the FDA almost two years ago, but it became available (by prescription) only last month (see my previous post about Zecuity). The product is not available in retail pharmacies...

Epilepsy and migraines share many features and those with epilepsy have a higher risk of developing migraines, while those with migraines are more likely to develop epilepsy. Anti-epilepsy drugs are commonly used for the preventive treatment of migraines...

About 12% of the population suffers from migraines. In addition to high rates of migraine-related disability, migraineurs are at a higher risk than the general population of additional disability related to depression, anxiety, irritable bowel syndrome...

Narcotic (opioid) drugs are still widely prescribed by doctors in offices and emergency rooms. They are not only potentially addictive, but also are not effective for the treatment of migraine headaches. The guidelines of the American Academy of...

MRI scans of migraine sufferers are almost always normal. Occasionally we see white spots on the MRI, which can be also found in people with high blood pressure, dementia, and sometimes in perfectly healthy people (see my previous post on this)...

Propranolol was first introduced as a blood pressure drug 50 years ago and about 40 years ago it was discovered to be effective for the prevention of migraines. This is quite a remarkable drug because it is also used for rapid heart beat, heart...

New onset of headaches is always worrisome, but even more so in a pregnant woman. Neurologists at the Montefiore Headache clinic in the Bronx conducted a 5-year retrospective study of pregnant women who presented with an acute headache, were...

Migraine with aura is believed to increase the risk of strokes and possibly heart attacks, although the risk estimates vary from study to study. A recent study demonstrated no increase in the risk of strokes in people who suffered from migraine...

Fluctuations in the female hormone estrogen have been proven to be involved in triggering menstrual and perimenopausal migraine headaches. Testosterone levels have been reported to be low in men and women with cluster headaches. Testosterone...

Ayurvedic medicine has many healthy aspects. However, a recent story on NPR described the risks involved with the traditional Ayurvedic medicines from India. A very high percentage of Ayurvedic supplements in the category called bhasmas sold in...

Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is a group of inherited disorders that are notable for excessive joint mobility with some people also having lax or stretchy skin, at times heart problems, and other symptoms. Headaches appear to be also very common...

I recently gave Botox injections to my oldest patient – an 96-year-old man who is otherwise in excellent mental and physical health has been suffering from daily severe cervicogenic (neck-related) headaches for many years. He had tried pain killers...