A Headache comes on… its pounding right on top of your left eye and you are seeing stars. Furthermore you cannot do anything else but think about this headache. It is so debilitating that you have to stop what you are doing, and lay down in a dark room. Most people in this case, would pop a headache medication. Its simple, fast, cost effective and sometimes it works like magic!
A problem arises when one gets into this repetitive cycle of popping pills to cure headaches. According to Dr.Stewart Tepper of the Cleveland Clinic, one can be diagnosed with a condition called medication overuse headache .
Once patients experience 15 or more headache days per month, ''they don't respond very well to the medications to treat migraine anymore,'' according to Dr. Stewart J. Tepper, director of research at the Center for Headache and Pain in the Neurological Institute at the Cleveland Clinic.
''If a person starts out with migraine, then there's an interplay between the number of headache days they have per month and the number of days they treat with medication to treat their migraines and the likelihood they will end up with daily headaches,'' said Tepper, who is also a professor of medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine.
''Depending on the acute medications, a person can really accelerate the process.''
Studies found that patients who take drugs with an active ingredient called butalbital five days or more per month for more than three months can develop daily headache, Tepper said.
Daily headache can develop with routine use of opioids such as codeine or Vicodin on only eight days a month.
Dr. Tepper also warns about other types of headache medications such as over the counter medications such as Excedrin, Aleve and Advil. He stated that these patients can develop a daily headache when they use the drugs 15 days or more a month for more than three months.
At that point, he said, patients need to be weaned off the medications and placed on a preventive treatment.
But the best strategy is to avoid medication overuse headache by seeing a specialist before medication use reaches critical levels, Tepper said.
''The most important thing is that this is avoidable,'' he said.
He recommends patients keep a diary to track how often headaches occur and possible triggers.
What are other things that one can do to prevent taking these serious headache medications?
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A problem arises when one gets into this repetitive cycle of popping pills to cure headaches. According to Dr.Stewart Tepper of the Cleveland Clinic, one can be diagnosed with a condition called medication overuse headache .
Once patients experience 15 or more headache days per month, ''they don't respond very well to the medications to treat migraine anymore,'' according to Dr. Stewart J. Tepper, director of research at the Center for Headache and Pain in the Neurological Institute at the Cleveland Clinic.
''If a person starts out with migraine, then there's an interplay between the number of headache days they have per month and the number of days they treat with medication to treat their migraines and the likelihood they will end up with daily headaches,'' said Tepper, who is also a professor of medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine.
''Depending on the acute medications, a person can really accelerate the process.''
Studies found that patients who take drugs with an active ingredient called butalbital five days or more per month for more than three months can develop daily headache, Tepper said.
Daily headache can develop with routine use of opioids such as codeine or Vicodin on only eight days a month.
Dr. Tepper also warns about other types of headache medications such as over the counter medications such as Excedrin, Aleve and Advil. He stated that these patients can develop a daily headache when they use the drugs 15 days or more a month for more than three months.
At that point, he said, patients need to be weaned off the medications and placed on a preventive treatment.
But the best strategy is to avoid medication overuse headache by seeing a specialist before medication use reaches critical levels, Tepper said.
''The most important thing is that this is avoidable,'' he said.
He recommends patients keep a diary to track how often headaches occur and possible triggers.
What are other things that one can do to prevent taking these serious headache medications?
- Get a chiropractic adjustment. Misalignments in the neck can be cause for headaches
- Try acupuncture
- Use a headache ice pillow- this type of neck pillow is u shaped an gives the needed support in your neck with cold therapy for treating muscle spasms
- Work on the muscle spasms in the upper neck such as the subocciptal musculature and also in the upper back such as the upper trapezius muscle. Try the healthy neck system for treating the tender trigger points in neck spine. The healthy neck has 5 special contact points for your neck that you can use to decrease tension and reduce painful trigger points
- Make sure you are using a supportive cervical pillow at night.
- The Right Pillow for Headaches
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