Headache After Brain Injury

U.S. soldiers who have been in Iraq are returning to the United States with headaches. This is the result of a mild trauma or exposure to a blast. This information was presented at American Academy of Neurology’s 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle. The study involved nearly 1,000 U.S. Army soldiers returning from Iraq or Afghanistan last year in 2008. All had experienced a concussion, head injury or blast exposure while deployed. Nearly 98 percent of the soldiers reported having headaches during the last three months of their deployment. The headaches started within one week of the traumatic brain injury for 37 percent of the soldiers, and within one to four weeks for 20 percent. Among the soldiers whose headaches started within a week of the injury, 60 percent had migraine-like headaches and 40 percent had headaches that interfered with their … Read more