Headaches, Migraine and Trigeminal Neuralgia

Head, Neck and Face pains are severe, debilitating and frequently interconnected.

Migraine and Headache can cripple a patient and are treated by our Ashirvad treatment (PRF, BOTOX injection and USGDN) and producing sustained reversal.

Headache is a common medical condition that can cause mild to severe discomfort in the head, scalp, or neck. Migraines are a type of headache that is characterized by intense, throbbing pain, often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light and sound.

Headache as the name suggests is a pain in the head and everyone suffers headache at some time or other but some more regularly. Headache is a very common problem in both adults and children.

Types Of Headache:

A headache is a pain or discomfort in the head, scalp, or neck. It is a common ailment that most people experience at some point in their lives. Headaches can range in intensity from mild to severe and can be acute (short-term) or chronic (long-term). There are many different types of headaches, including tension headaches, migraines, sinus headaches, and cluster headaches.

Tension headaches, also known as tension-type headaches, are the most common type of headache. They are usually mild to moderate in intensity and are characterized by a feeling of tightness or pressure in the head, neck, and scalp.

Migraines are a type of headache that is often severe and can be accompanied by other symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light and sound. Migraines are often triggered by certain factors such as stress, lack of sleep, and certain foods.

Sinus headaches are caused by inflammation or infection in the sinuses, which are air-filled spaces in the skull. They are characterized by pain and pressure in the forehead, cheeks, and bridge of the nose.

Cluster headaches are a type of headache that is characterized by severe, recurring pain on one side of the head. They typically last for a few hours and often occur at the same time every day.

Headaches can be treated with over-the-counter or prescription medications, as well as lifestyle changes such as getting enough sleep, exercising regularly, and managing stress. In some cases, headaches may be a symptom of a more serious underlying medical condition, so it is important to see a doctor if you experience frequent or severe headaches or if your headache is accompanied by other unusual symptoms.

Causes:

Headaches could be primary headache, one that doesn’t have a detectable organic cause or it could be secondary to various issues like sinusitis, a tension headache or an eye problem. Rarely it might be something serious like a brain tumour, meningitis or a brain haemorrhage (<10%). The severity of the headache has no correlation with the cause and simple headaches can be as severe as those from serious causes.

Primary Headaches :

Migraine
Tension type headache.
Cluster headache

Causes of Trigeminal Neuralgia:

Aging, multiple sclerosis, viral infection of trigeminal ganglion, and compression of nerve by arterial or venous loops, meningiomas, and epidermoid cysts are few of the causes of TGN. Invasive dental procedures are a cmmon trigger seen in many patients.

Signs and Symptoms :

Tension type Headache – or muscle contraction headache causes a dull and diffuse pain the base of the head, neck, forehead and temple as if there is a tight band around the head or it might feel like heaviness in the head. It may last only for a few hours but may become more frequent and can last for days or even weeks. It is associated with overwork, emotional tension. It responds very well to the combination of deficiency correction, medications, USGDN and yoga based physical therapy

Cluster Headache – is typically seen in middle aged men and occasionally women. The pain usually occurs around the eye, temple or forehead. And can be very severe. It can be associated with tearing, nasal congestion, facial flushing, forehead sweating and the eye may look smaller. The pain can occur any time but often it wakes up the person from sleep. It is called cluster headache because it occurs in clusters over 4-12 weeks and then disappear for months or years. It is usually on one side and occurs at the same side and same time everyday hence the other name ‘alarm clock headache’. This responds to specific medications, USGDN and neck exercises. In troublesome situations sympathetic ganglion block at the sphenopalatine ganglion can be useful.

Migraine: is the most common type of primary headache which can be quite debilitating. It is 3 times more common in women. The pain is in one half of the head, severe, prevent the patient from carrying on day to day activities, associated with nausea, vomiting, aversion from sound and light and can last from 4-72 hours. It requires treatment with medication and doesn’t resolve on its own.

Trigeminal Neuralgia: The pain comes on one side of the face it is shock like, severe, lancinating pain. It is triggered by mouth opening, chewing, brushing, breeze hitting the face etc. In typical TGN patient is pain free in between episodes, but it may not be true in all cases.

Treatments:

Migraine: It is important to keep painkillers like paracetamol or ibuprofen or diclofenac or piroxicam handy. But as time progresses the patients are unable to get relief from these. In these patients, preventive medications can be taken on a regular basis as well as sprays of triptans before an attack. Botox and Pulsed Radiofrequency and Ultrasound Guided Dry Needling can be used to decrease the severity and frequency of the attacks. Occipital nerve block and Sphenopalatine ganglion block are also useful.

Trigeminal Neuralgia: Medications form the first line of TGN therapy. Interventional options, including percutaneous radiofrequency (RF) ablation, rhizotomy, and microvascular decompression are considered if medications are ineffective.

How are we different?

Migraine: We have developed a PRF procedure to address all the nerves that supply the neck muscles which makes these patients comfortable within days. This is followed by systematic USGDN of all the muscles involved in producing the pain of migraine. Botulinum toxin or BOTOX® injections which is an FDA-approved preventive treatment proven to reduce migraine and headache days every month. What we do at AIPMR is a more sophisticated form of using ultrasound guided injections of BOTOX® injections where we can personalize it for every patient based on their pain distribution. We have found this post BOTOX®, USGDN to be an extremely important feature in achieving freedom from migraine.

Trigeminal Neuralgia: We have developed safer treatments for TGN based on novel concept. The actual pain comes from muscle knots and taut bands in the muscles supplied by the trigeminal nerve. This explains triggering of TGN pain by tongue movements, talking and chewing that use masticatory muscles and the commonly observed restricted jaw movements during TGN attacks. We treat the nerve with pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) and the muscle by ultrasound guided dry needling (USGDN) of masticatory, facial, and neck muscles. Dry needling has been reported to deactivate muscle knots and taut bands to relieve myofascial pain. Unequivocal pain relief lasting for years with little or no medication support has been achieved with this approach.

Headaches, Migraine and Trigeminal Neuralgia

Types Of Headache:

Headache

Causes:

Primary Headaches :

Causes of Trigeminal Neuralgia:

Signs and Symptoms :

Treatments:

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