Headaches are among the most common complaints that lead patients to see a doctor. In Germany, about 47 million people suffer from recurring headaches. Almost 18 million of these suffer from migraines, another 25 million from so-called tension headaches, and the rest, almost four million, suffer from less common headaches such as trigeminal neuralgia.
The impact on everyday life can be considerable and is often underestimated by outsiders. This is especially true for migraines as severe migraines often lead to absence from work. In private life, appointments have to be cancelled again and again, family obligations cannot be fulfilled. In addition to the pain, there are accompanying symptoms, often nausea and vomiting, and occasionally neurological deficits.
The consultation of patients with headache begins with a careful diagnosis and detailed advice about the type of disorder. The second step is to develop strategies, on the one hand for the treatment of acute headache attacks and on the other hand for their prevention. Those affected can often prevent their headaches themselves by changing their lifestyle (regular day-night rhythms, diet, endurance sports, relaxation exercises, etc.)
In more difficult cases and depending on the diagnosis, medicinal measures for prophylaxis are useful, in rare cases more intensive procedures such as treatment with botolinum toxin or electrical stimulation procedures. Occasionally, it is the avoidance of painkillers that prevents the development of chronic headaches or eliminates them.
Together with the pain clinic, our neurological clinic offers all established treatment options for headache disorders.