Headache care and preventing the next one
Headaches affect everyone from time to time. Most types of headaches can be relieved with rest and an over-the-counter pain medication, but millions of Americans suffer from headache symptoms that do not respond to at-home treatment or that occur frequently. These headache symptoms impact the ability to go about their daily life. That’s when it’s important to seek care to find out what is causing the headache and develop a strategy for managing them.
Often, patients—and even some healthcare professionals—may use the term “migraine” to describe a reoccurring headache condition. But there are many types of migraines, many possible causes and many treatment options that need the care of a headache expert like those on staff at Baylor Scott & White Health.
Triggers can include:
- Stress
- Medications/overusing certain medications
- Certain foods
- Too much caffeine or alcohol
- Sleep problems
- Food additives like nitrates and sulfates Intense workouts
- Staring at a screen
- Weather
- Previous head injury
Types of headaches and treatments
There are dozens of different types of headaches and migraines, but they generally fall into one of four categories:
- Migraine headaches
- Sinus headaches
- Tension headaches
- Cluster headaches
The headache experts across Texas on the Baylor Scott & White medical staff have been trained in comprehensive headache care and use a detailed patient history and examination, along with advanced technologies, to help determine the cause, type and way forward for headache relief.
Sometimes, the solutions are relatively simple, but often, managing headache symptoms involves a variety of approaches that must be balanced. Headache treatment options may include:
- Diet changes
- Exercise
- Herbal remedies
- Stress management
- Medications
- Rest in a quiet, dark environment
- Avoid known triggers, such as certain foods and beverages, lack of sleep and fasting
- Biofeedback
- Psychiatry
- Mindfulness meditation
- Sleep medicine evaluation
- Physical/occupational therapy
- Individual/group therapy
- Injections, including Botox, nerve blocks and trigger point injections