Occipital Migraine

The cluster and migraine headaches, when chronic and severe can be very difficult to treat. Cluster headaches are characterized by severe headaches stabbed one side, with pain behind the eyes. They usually occur either at the same time every day or are seasonal and when the attacks they last a few minutes to and hour. Many people want to move when they have cluster headaches. Migraines, on the other hand, have a throbbing pain on one or both sides of the head. Light and sound are pain and nausea and vomiting may occur. Migraine as a result, you want to be lying in a quiet room that movement exacerbates the pain.

So what do these headaches have in common that could allow treatment to work for both? Well, according to research specialists headaches at the American Headache Society, there is an area deep inside the brain responsible for registering headaches. This part of the brain connects back to the nerves in the upper neck, which then connect to the nerves just under the skin on the back of the head. The nerves at the back of the head are called the occipital nerves and if they are over stimulated to the point of blocking the impulses that flow back to the Deep in grief, blocks of two clusters and migraines.

Two new systems have been developed recently for occipital stimulation. One is a handheld stimulator that is placed on the back of the head at the beginning of a migraine. It is supposed to stop the headache through the feedback system. The stimulator is rather bulky and may require two hands to hold it in place. This may be difficult for some people but most should be able to manage it.

The second system involves a surgical procedure. It's a combination pacemaker implant and a battery that keeps the stimulator on. Two tapes containing the stimulators are surgically placed on the occipital nerves, just under the skin at the back of the head. Son drivers are executed under the skin and connected to the battery. The system allows the patient to control the amount of stimulation depending on their level of pain. The most common problem so far with this type of system is the rupture of son of lead and the fact that the battery only lasts a year or two. Battery replacement and lead wire need another surgery.

In 2008, two clinics are the proceedings of a research process. The clinical sites include the head of Michigan and pain Institute in Ann Arbor, MI and the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona. Both trials were closed and not accepting new patients, but a new trial may open elsewhere in the country since the results were so promising. At this stage, 67% of patients responded to the eradication of their cluster headaches and over 40% of migraine sufferers have responded.

So what to do until the surgery is more easily accessible? Your doctor may be able to occipital nerve blocks which can also serve the same purpose in the treatment of headaches. Similar research at the American Headache Society said that even if you do not have pain in the back of the head, occipital nerve blocks can treat your headaches or migraines cluster effectively. Nerve blocks consist of a small amount of an anesthetic such as lidocaine, mixed with a steroid and injected into the nerve.

Generally, with a profile of severe headaches, you should be evaluated by a headache specialist to determine if a pacemaker or an occipital nerve block is best for you.