Dear Friend,
Patients often come and see me to help them with headaches. We start our conversation by getting a handle on the nature of their pain (do they have nausea, light sensitivity, neck pain, etc.) and what may be causing it, especially ruling out any life-threatening causes.
But then we talk about the impact of headaches on their daily life including anything that influences their daily functioning, their emotional and social life, and overall wellbeing. Many patients feel unable to make plans and have anxiety about having a bad headache day ahead. Relationships and work productivity can also suffer.
Some of these headaches are actually migraines—an often debilitating form of a headache. A common myth is that migraines are just bad headaches that will disappear with a pill.
Migraines have whole-person effects. They need a whole person approach to treat and prevent them. Along with adjusting medications, we start by using a journal to identify triggers. Diet, stress, exercise, sleep, and substances including alcohol, medications, and caffeine all matter.
Learn more in our new blog post "Lessen Migraine Pain, Improve Quality of Life" or our Migraine Pocket Guide.
Be well.
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