Dr. Lindsay Weitzel has a discussion with country singer Kelly Leigh Hancock. Kelly copes with her chronic migraine through music. Find out who her very famous uncle is and what he taught her about dealing with chronic pain.
Q. My father has a variety of medical conditions, including Parkinson’s disease and diabetes. He has severe headaches almost every day. His doctors continue to prescribe more and more medications, which are not working. He has had every test imaginable to rule out any serious…
Q. I need some advice. Over four years ago, I was thrown from my car, despite wearing a seatbelt, and landed on my head. I have read that most post-concussive headaches resolve within weeks or months. I, however, have had a headache all day, every day…
Children who frequently suffer from headache may benefit from biofeedback therapy, which a recent study showed decreased pain and headache frequency. Biofeedback is a technique in which people attempt to control some bodily processes that normally occur involuntarily, such as heart rate, blood pressure, muscle…
Q. Though lidocaine patches help with my chronic headache pain, they can be cumbersome to apply. My local pharmacists are in disagreement: One said patches cannot be cut, but the other said I could cut my lidocaine patch to a size more suitable to my…
Q. I am a frequent migraine sufferer and have had no luck in finding a treatment that works for me. I’ve had massage therapy, acupuncture, and been to my primary care doctor and a neurologist. I’ve been on a daily preventive (Topamax®), which did nothing…
A 30-minute massage can improve the psychological and physiological state of people with chronic tension-type headaches, according to a study published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. In a small study, 11 people with chronic-tension type headache received either head-neck massage with a…
People with chronic headache have a high prevalence of insomnia and other sleep disorders, such as daytime sleepiness and snoring, according to a study published in the journal Headache. The incidence of insomnia is so high—almost 68% as compared to 39% of people with occasional…
Can Lidocaine Patches Be Cut to Smaller Size? Q. Though they help with my chronic headache pain, lidocaine patches can be cumbersome to apply. My local pharmacists are in disagreement: One says patches cannot be cut, but the other said I could cut my lidocaine…