Headaches

In Tolosa-Hunt syndrome, inflammation of the cavernous sinus (behind the eyes) causes severe eye pain and irritation or damage of the nerves of the face. Males and females are affected equally by Tolosa-Hunt syndrome, which usually affects people more than 20 years old. Symptoms Tolosa-Hunt syndrome begins with severe pain behind or around one eye that comes on suddenly. The pain can be constant and intense. As the sinus inflammation increases and spreads, nerves in the face can be affected, producing symptoms such as drooping eyelid  of the affected eye or numbness and tingling in the forehead. Difficulty controlling eye movements and the pupil may cause sensitivity to light and double or blurred vision. If left untreated, vision loss is possible. Diagnosis The International Headache Society criteria for Tolosa-Hunt syndrome are: One-sided eye pain for an average of 8 weeks … Read more

My neurologist always has the latest issues of the national headache foundation issues called headlines. He usually gives me a copy when I see him. If your not familiar with NHF headlines, it is a bimonthly publication by the national headache foundation. It discuses a lot of issues surrounding headaches and the latest headache research. For example, in the latest issue of the NHF headlines (july/august 2007) there is an article written by Drs. Seymour Diamond and George Urban of the Diamond Headache Clinic located in Chicago, Illinois. The article discuses cluster headaches. Cluster headache is characterized by recurrent bouts of extremely painful, unilateral (one-sided) headache attacks of relatively short duration. The pain has been described as the most severe form of pain a human can endure and dubbed “killer” or “suicide” headaches by some sufferers. There are more men … Read more

The American Academy of Neurology has reported that treating migraine headaches with occipital nerve block is effective. Occipital nerve block is a procedure where anesthetic agents are injected near the occipital nerve on the back of the head near the base of the skull on the side of the migraine headache. Within five minutes after the nerve block, 60% of patients had mild or no headache and 75% of patients had mild or no light sensitivity. Over half of the patients had no side effects. About 20% had pain at the injection site and about 20% experienced dizziness. The investigators of the study concluded that greater occipital nerve blocks are safe and easy procedures that can be performed in the office. The average duration of benefit in these trials was about four days. About 20% of responders still had total … Read more

What is Occipital Neuralgia? Occipital neuralgia is a very specific type of headache, where the pain is in the back of the head, at the very top of the neck and behind the ears. This location relates to an area supplied by a nerve, called the occipital nerve, which usually gathers information about pain and touch from this exact area. In occipital neuralgia this area can also sometimes not feel normal sensations as well as usual. While it is usually only on one side of the head, it can sometimes be on both. Predisposing Factors Often the exact cause of occipital neuralgia is not found, but some of the more common causes are: Trauma (damage) to the back of the head ‘Pinching’ (entrapment) of the nerve by overly tight neck muscles Osteoarthritis of the bones in the neck, compressing the … Read more

Verapamil is a commonly used headache medication. I was on verapamil for a 3-4 week period, before I had a reaction to it after I went in a hot tub, where veins in my body seemed really inflammed and were like popping out in the back. However, my second cousin has been using it for years successfully to treat and eliminate his chronic headaches. A new UK study suggests that at high doses the drug verapamil can cause heart problems and all patients being treated with the drug should have frequent electrocardiograms (EKGs) to check for irregular hearbeats.  The results showed that of the 108 patients whose EKGs could be monitored: 21 patients (19 per cent) had arrhythmias (irregular heart beat). 13 patients (12 per cent) had first degree heart block at 240 to 960 mg a day, with one … Read more