There are few conditions that are as disabling as a migraine during an acute attack. Migraines are ranked as the sixth most common cause of disability by the World Health Organization. Migraines are also ranked the most common cause of neurologic disability in the United States. Over 36 million Americans have migraines, more than the number of people who have diabetes and asthma combined.

One of the challenges in treating acute and chronic migraines is that oral preventive drug therapy is only effective in 40-50% of patients. Pharmacologic therapy is also responsible for a wide array of side effects that can make compliance and drug dosing difficult to achieve. Migraines have an impact on lifestyle, occupations, and quality of life. It is a disabling condition that must be treated with absolute haste to abort the headache as quickly as possible.

There are two main types of migraine headaches; migraine with aura and without aura.

Migraine with aura is characterized by the transient focal neurological symptoms that usually precede or accompany the headache. The aura can be visual symptoms, sensory findings such as numbness or tingling on one side of the face or head, and speech disturbances. To diagnose a migraine with aura, a patient must have at least one of the following fully reversible aura symptoms; visual, sensory, speech/language, motor, brainstem, and retinal symptoms. The most common aura is visual symptoms occurring 90% of time. Migraines with aura also contain premonitory symptoms that may begin hours or a day or two before the onset of the headache which may include fatigue, difficulty concentrating, neck stiffness, and sensitivity to light or sound.

Migraines without aura are a recurrent headache disorder that can last from four to seventy-two hours. The typical characteristics are; unilateral location, pulsating quality, moderate or severe intensity, aggravation by routine physical activity and association with nausea and/or light/sound irritation. When considering those symptoms and considering the duration can be up to seventy-two hours, there is an absolute need for treatment. Treatment must entail preventive measures, abortive measures, lifestyle changes, and sometimes even procedures.

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Prairie Spine and Pain Institute has been treating neck and back pain with medications and interventional procedures for over 10 years. Neck pain can often be associated with debilitating headaches and migraines that can affect everyday life. Pain associated with headaches can cause disruptions in daily life, problems with functional activities, as well as a financial burden.

Prairie Spine and Pain Institute will now be welcoming new patients with primary complaints of headache/migraine. We will be using medications, procedures, lifestyle changes, and educational training in order to allow patients to control their headaches and live their lives without significant limitations.

We will be offering a number of procedures to treat chronic migraines, these include:

  • Occipital Nerve Blocks
  • Sphenopalatine Ganglion Blocks
  • Botox

Each treatment plan will be individually tailored around each patient, their goals, and their symptoms in order to optimize their lives and minimize their pain. If you suffer from headaches or chronic migraines do not hesitate to set up an appointment with us at Prairie Spine and Pain Institute for a new patient evaluation.