Headache Pain Need Not Hurt February 2002
Veterans’ Voice
January/ February, 2002
From “The Illinois Pain Treatment Institute Quarterly” Vol.6 Issue 3
Headaches need not hurt.
The number of headaches people suffer in the US is rising steadily. Last year an estimated 45 million Americans took time off from work to cope with headaches. Still, headaches are not taken as seriously as they deserve to be taken. Twenty years ago, lower back pain was the primary work-related injury. Ten years ago we saw a lot of carpal tunnel syndrome cases as more people started working on typewriters. Now, we’re into the compute age and the number of chronic headache sufferers has increased.
Computers may trigger headaches in several ways. Your brain picks up on the flickering monitor. The nerves get fatigued trying to keep up with all the flickers. Most office desktops aren’t deep enough to push computer monitors and keyboards the optimum distance from the user. Awkward, unsupported positions put stress on the shoulder muscles, which transfer the stress o the muscles that cross the top of the scull: a recipe for a tension headache.
Some tension headaches result simple from the accumulation of small stresses in today’s busy lifestyles. The source of stress doesn’t have to be bad in itself, one just gets so busy it builds over time and eventually reaches the point where it triggers a headache.
Treatment for recurring tension headaches range from cutting-edge technology to ancient fold remedies, these may include deep heat ultrasound, acupuncture, injection of anti-inflammatory drugs into the fact joints, muscles or nerves and physical therapy. Injections are used as a diagnostic tool as well as for relief. Pain management physicians may use a procedure called “radiofrequency rhizotomy” which renders the nerves inert for a period of time allowing the area to heal. They can also use injections of “Botox” or “Myobloc” for prolonged relief. Dr. John Prunskis, who was interviewed for this article, was asked about migraine headaches. “What most people call migraines are just severe tension headaches. True migraines are caused by imbalances in brain chemistry that often start with trigger chemicals entering the bloodstream that affect the blood vessels in the brain.”
The aura that migraine sufferers experience before an attack can include seeing spots or flashing lights and a feeling of unexplained anxiety which are symptoms of hypoxia. Long-term migraine management techniques range from taking antidepressants or other prescription medicines that regulate brain chemistry to diet and lifestyle changes. “Doctors work with their patients to determine what sets their migraine attacks and what they can do to avoid them.”
While migraines and tension headaches strike women more often than men, cluster headaches affect men almost exclusively. They are caused by imbalances in the hypothalamus that are triggered by middle age. Cluster headaches often start while the victim sleeps, they last between 20 minutes up to hours and occur two or three times a day, every day for about two months. Then, they vanish for months, only to strike again without warning.
The one thing you should not do for recurring headaches is reach for the aspirin bottle without first seeking medical advice. The result can be a vicious cycle of pain-medication-pain-medication. Unusually severe headaches might even call for a trip to the emergency room. Dr. Prunskis states, “If you’re experiencing the worst headache you’ve ever had in your life, seek immediate medical attention because strokes, meningitis, and brain tumors often first manifest themselves as headaches.
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