Polish patient with headache

by Michal
(Poland)

Hello from Poland,

the reason I wrote to you is my Mom, who is 62 years old.
She has suffered headaches since 1998. The headaches were located in fronto-parietal area at first. At present, the headaches encompass the whole right hemisphere as well as the right side of the neck. The pain persists, slightly changing its intensity (on a scale of 1-10, the perceptible intensity remains at the level of 8-10) - no migraine aura effect before the change of headache intensity. The heaviest attacks of headaches are accompanied by a falling eyelid, additionally swollen and sinking.

Throughout the years, the headaches have gradually become stronger and encompassing larger parts of the head. The pain is of a burning nature with a sharp and distinct pressure within the anterior part of the parietal bone; the pain persists, making the daily routines extremely difficult and causing sleeplessness. Mom does not react to prescribed medications and pain treatment.

We're doing here in Poland our best, but after all those years and many different specialists and treatments we still have no diagnosis and treatment; pain are stronger and Mom are very weak, so we are desperate to find the answer and help anywhere in the world.

We tried many different treatments and therapies, tests and scans - if you agreed to analyze Mom's case - I'll send you complete history/case study via e-mail.
Mom smoke about 15 years, 20 cigarettes per day, she stops smoking about 24 years ago, when she was 38 years old

Have you got any idea how to help my mom?
Can you can recommend any headache clinic in Europe?

Thank you in advance and kind regards

michal

Answer:

Hi Michal

It sounds as if her pain is originating in her neck. We see this commonly in our headache center. When spasming in the neck and even arthritis is severe, it causes pain in the head. The pain is a burning pain with some stabbing aspect to it. We call it a cervicogenic headache. The end result is chronic tension type headache or CTTH.

More often than not, a several month course of an anti-spasmotic, physical therapy for the neck, and massage therapy will help. Sometimes traction helps too.

Can you get Mom to London? There is a headache center there called The London Headache Center. They are somewhat new, started in 2010 but they might be able to help.

Best of luck!

Mary Kay Betz MS RPA-C