New Jersey Headacehs
Headaches - Seeking Medical Advice for Headaches


While it may seem fairly easy to diagnose a headache correctly identifying them is trickier than you might think. In many instances patients may think they have sinusitis but actually have a mild migraine. One respected study reports that 97 percent of people wrongly self-diagnosed themselves.

But you can improve the odds of getting a correct diagnosis from your physician by giving him or her all the assistance you can.

Headache Diary

First and foremost, for those who have frequent headaches, keeping a diary is a must. The diary should note when it began and ended, as accurately as possible. Note the location and type of pain as well as you can. Though pain is subjective, it's helpful to make notes about the severity, too.

Knowing the degree, type and frequency of a headache is the first step to differentiating between, say, a migraine and a cluster headache, or an ordinary tension headache. Migraines produce a pulsating pain that strikes at odd moments, while cluster headaches tend to occur around the same time every day for weeks.

Make careful notes about diet, exercise and life-factors, too.

Changes in diet can lead to certain headaches. Chocolate, red wine, cheese and other foods and drinks are often triggers for those who are a sensitive. Excess exercise can often produce headaches, though how much is excessive will, of course, vary from person to person. Life-factors, such as moving to a new town, work or relationship stress and others can produce headaches.

When those factors lead to an ordinary tension headache that responds to aspirin or acetaminophen, then doesn't reoccur, there's little to do. But when the condition becomes more intense or long-lived, that diary is essential to providing physicians with needed clues for proper diagnosis.

Advanced Tools

There are literally hundreds of underlying medical conditions that can produce so-called 'secondary headaches'. That is a headache in which the head pain and its cause is not the primary factor. In 'primary headaches' the head pain is itself the medical condition.

No one, not even physicians, can always detect correctly at first which of these possible conditions is responsible. But they have the tools that can narrow them down. CT scans and MRI are two of the most common.

CT (Computer Tomography) scans use a series of directed x-rays that are combined by the computer to provide a 3-D 'picture' of the brain. MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) does not use x-rays, but the electromagnetic activity of the brain itself, to map structures and conditions within the skull.

Both those have become outstanding diagnostic tools to determine the type of headache and any possible underlying neurological condition that might be producing it. In rare (but often obvious, once the tests are complete), cases a brain tumor or cancer is the underlying cause of headache.

There are two basic ways of obtaining information to base a diagnosis on. The first information to consider is the patient's self-evaluation. The other important step in having a diagnosis is the doctor's examine. Combining the patient and physician's evaluations leads to a more accurate diagnosis.

That misalignment is a common contributor to the causes of headaches.

Children with hay fever more likely to experience headaches, facial pain (EurekAlert!)
( American Academy of Otolaryngology -- Head and Neck Surgery ) Children who suffer from bouts of allergic rhinitis are also more likely to suffer from headaches, facial pain, and ear aches than children without these allergies, says new research presented at the 2008 American Academy of Otolaryngology -- Head and Neck Surgery Foundation Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO in Chicago, Ill.

Healthy dose of life lessons (C-Health)
Life in the fast lane, life in the bicycle lane, life at the racetrack, and life's a headache and a heartache: This week's life lessons embrace everything from moms to cyclists to arthritis, headaches and heart disease. Read on for a healthier you:

Plane crash causes travel woes for some (WIS News 10 Columbia)
Saturday morning's plane crash at Columbia Metropolitan Airport caused plenty of headaches for would-be passengers trying to get out of Columbia.

Health Digest (The Capital)
Drugmaker Allergan Inc. reported that its antiwrinkle injection Botox may help relieve migraine headaches. The company said it will ask the Food and Drug Administration next year to approve Botox for chronic migraine, based on preliminary analysis of two new studies.


Surgery has proved somewhat effective in the most serious cases.
But, like all ergots (Ergomar, Wigraine, Cafergot and more), it does have limitations and possible side effects. Consulting a physician is a wise precaution. In the case of severe, repeated headache episodes - since the condition is often neurological at base - it is, unfortunately, often necessary to seek the advice of one or more specialists. But blood vessels can dilate as well as contract. Certain hormonal factors are believed to influence the onset and severity of attacks. Aspirin is also an analgesic, pain reliever.