This is one of the most common complaints with which patients go to the doctor of any specialty. As for definition it is painful sensations that occur above the eyebrows and the cervical-occipital areas. According to statistics, the incidence of this phenomenon varies from 50 to 200 per 1,000 people, and in general every year from 75 to 80% of the planet experiencing headache, caused by various factors.
Difficulties in the treatment and diagnosis due to the fact that headaches can be a symptom of 45 major diseases.
The causes of headaches can vary. It is caused by factors such as emotional stress, depression, fatigue, weather changes, bright light, smoking, alcohol, allergies, hypertension, aneurysm, brain tumor, head injury, sinusitis, strain eyes, fever, use of hormonal or other drugs, genetic predisposition, menstruation in women and many others.
Overall headache is caused by irritation (in different ways and different factors) of head pain receptors concentrated in the skin, muscles, blood vessels, brain membranes and so on. This process is accompanied by various disorders in the body. So, it is a universal pain syndrome. Only deep clinical determination of headaches, attention to this syndrome can ensure proper diagnosis and effective treatment appointment.
This is very important in the sense that headache cannot be seen only in terms of health. In terms of socio-economic losses it causes significant disability because of a case of this syndrome. Only in the UK each year such losses amount to about 950 million pounds.
That’s why it’s required the development of new methods and improvement of diagnostic equipment. Due to the application they can achieve considerable success in overcoming headaches that is proved by experience of functioning of our Clinic.
Here is an example. One of our patients, 50-year-old Valery D., suffering from headaches for – not much – twenty (!) Years. And some slight headache became a common occurrence. But from time to time the attacks caused such a strong pain, which is also accompanied by nausea and vomiting, which knocked out of the working rhythm and lead to disability. Classic treatments did not help. Therefore, there was a huge surprise for Valery D. that after two weeks of treatment, his headache was gone. As he had long lost hope to get rid of ailments…
Migraine, which so plagued Valeriy D. is one of the most common signs of headaches. The disease has long been known. The first mention was found in the writings that have appeared over 3,000 years BC. The attack of this disease clearly and convincingly described the doctor and writer Mikhail Bulgakov in his novel “Master and Margarita”.
It should give the basic diagnostic criteria for migraine, because such a diagnosis often put without sufficient justification:
1) Unilateral location of pain;
2) Pulsing his character;
3) The intensity of pain reduces the activity of the patient and increases with repetitive work, walking;
4) The presence of at least one of such symptoms as nausea, vomiting, photophobia or sound;
5) The duration of the attack from 4 to 72 hours;
6) at least 5 attacks in history, that meet these criteria.
An important is also the change of the location of pain, since the presence of unilateral headache for a long time makes us examine for other causes of attack.