Subscribe to New York Headache blog

Acute treatment of episodic and chronic migraine headaches in the US leaves a lot to be desired. Results of the American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention Study lead by Dr. Richard Lipton indicates that the acute treatment of migraine headaches in...

Stimulation of the sphenopalatine ganglion seems to relieve cluster headaches according to a study by European neurologists. The study examined the efficacy of the on-demand sphenopalatine(SPG) stimulation in chronic cluster headache patients...

Candesartan (Atacand) is a relatively new blood pressure medication in the family of ACE receptor blockers (ARBs), which is also effective in the preventive treatment of migraine headaches. Another ARB, Benicar, or olmesartan has also been...

Half of the kids seen by pediatric headache specialists suffer from chronic migraines. Dr. Hershey and his colleagues at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital presented results of a study that compared cognitive behavioral treatment combined with...

A non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) drug naproxen (Aleve) alone seems to be more effective than naproxen combined with sumatriptan (Treximet), according to a study by Dr. Roger Cady and his colleagues from Missouri, which was presented...

Nausea of migraines responds to an acupressure device, according to two German doctors who presented their findings last week at the International Headache Congress in Boston. I spoke to one of the authors, Dr. Zoltan Medgyessy about his study...

Oxygen inhalation is a proven method of treating cluster headaches. The patient usually rents a large oxygen tank and breathes in pure oxygen through a mask whenever he gets an attack (it is usually a he since 5 times as many men suffer from...

Infantile colic seems to be a precursor or an early manifestation of migraine headaches in children. A new European study published in the journal JAMA supports an earlier American study mentioned in one of my previous blogs. This European study...

Botox is approved by the FDA for the prophylactic treatment of chronic migraine headaches. Chronic migraine was arbitrarily defined by headache researchers as headache occurring on more than 14 days each month. Epidemiological research by Dr...

Calcium inside the nerve cells (neurons) seems to be crucial in making pain chronic, according to a publication in the journal Neuron by researchers in Heidelberg, Germany. They discovered that in patients with persistent pain, calcium in the...

Female pelvic/genital pain is more common in women with chronic Headache, according to a study presented by Canadian neurologists.The study was carried out by researchers and clinicians at the Wasser Pain Management Centre, Mount Sinai Hospital...

Leeches are not pleasant to look at, but they have been used for medicinal purposes for hundreds of years. Growing up in the Ukraine in the 1960s I remember (this is hard to forget) seeing big jars with leeches in a corner pharmacy. Patients would...

Many migraine sufferers suffer from nausea and vomiting and cannot swallow pills or even if they can swallow them, it takes too long for them to work. Injections is one way to overcome this problem, but nasal spray is a much more pleasant...

In my previous post I mentioned a TENS unit spcifically designed for the treatment of migraine headaches. It was available for a short time on Amazon.com, but no longer is. It is sold at COSTCO stores in Canada and in Europe. Howere, regular...

Trigeminal neuralgia is an extremely painful condition that causes electric-like pain in the face. It is often misdiagnosed as a dental problem, sinus headache or another condition. The pain is very brief, just like an electric shock, but it can...

Zomig (zolmitriptan) is the fourth triptan (out of seven) to become available in a generic form. This spells big relief for migraine sufferers who rely on this drug. Only tablets and orally disintegrating tablets (ZMT) will become available, not...

Pregnant women are admonished not to take any medications while pregnant. Fortunately, two out of three women stop having migraines during pregnancy, especially during the second and third trimester. Unfortunately, one third of women continue...

Botox appears to be effective for the treatment of chronic post-traumatic headaches in service Members with a history of mild traumatic brain injury according to a recent report by Dr. Juanita Yerry and her colleagues at Ft. Bragg, NC...

Abuse of prescription narcotic (opioid) drugs is growing at an alarming rate and they are responsible for tens of thousands of deaths due to overdose every year. While all such drugs can cause addiction, there appears to be a difference among...

Fear and avoidance of activity may play a role in fostering disability in whiplash-associated disorders, according to a new study by University of Washington researchers published in the latest issue of journal Pain. This study examined the...

Preventive drugs for migraine headaches help less than half of the patients they are given to. There is no significant difference in effectiveness in these drugs. They reduce frequency of attacks by 50 percent, according to a review published...

It is a well established fact that migraine sufferers are 2-3 times more likely to develop anxiety and depression. The reverse is also true: if you suffer from anxiety and depression, you are 2-3 times more likely to develop migraine headaches...

Botox seems to help neck and upper back muscle pains, according to a recent study by UCLA doctors. We know that one of the actions of Botox is to relax muscles and it has been effective for the treatment of sciatic pain, according to a previous...

A new treatment for pseudotumour cerebri was reported by a team of interventional neuroradiologists and neurosurgeons. Pseudotumour cerebri is a rare condition, which manifests itself by increased pressure in the head, leading to severe headaches...

Approval of the inhaled dihydroergotamine or DHE to be sold under the name of Levadex has been delayed again by the FDA. We expected approval last year because the FDA did consider the product to be safe and effective, but they were not happy...

Food sensitivities have been always suspected to be a trigger for migraine headaches. A group of Turkish neurologists published a study in the journal Headache in which they gave an elimination diet to 21 migraine sufferers who also had irritable...

The importance of context: When relative relief renders pain pleasant, is the title of an article recently published in the leading international medical journal, Pain. British and Norwegian researchers examined how context can influence the experience...

It is not surprising that persistent pain can cause depression, but a study just published in The Journal of Pain suggests a possible mechanism and more importantly a possible treatment. Australian doctors examined 669 patients who were over...

Melatonin does seem to help prevent migraine headaches according to a new study by Brazilian researchers just presented at the annual scientific meeting of the American Academy of Neurology. In my previous post over two years ago I wrote...

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) seems to be effective for the treatment of migraine headaches. In my post over a year ago I mentioned our study of a device that stimulates vagus nerve with an external portable device. The results of this...