Prairie Spine and Pain Institute offers Headache Relief Procedures.
Millions of people suffer from painful chronic headache conditions all over the United States, and they don’t seem to be getting better. Managing pain is a chore for many headache patients, who often feel discouraged and exhausted by a lack of day-to-day pain relief.
Some Headache Statistics
Around 45 million American men and women suffer from chronic headache disorders.
- 6-8% of men suffer from chronic headaches
- 15-18% of women suffer from chronic headaches
- Almost 5% of all adults experience headaches every day or almost every day
Over 3 million Americans have resorted to emergency services to treat severe headaches at least once
Conventional Headache Relief – It’s Not Working
Here’s another discouraging statistic: over 60% of patients have given up on their prescription medications. Conventional chronic headache prescriptions such as topiramate and triptan can often go well over $300-$500 every month. For such expensive treatment, the numerous uncomfortable accompanying side effects as well as an overall absence of pain relief mean that the majority of patients need something better.
Our procedure differs from conventional headache prescription medications, because we treat the pain right at its source with a quick, relatively painless and minimally invasive SPG blocking technique.
SPG Blocks
The Sphenopalatine Ganglion
The sphenopalatine ganglion (SPG) is a collection of neurons inside the head. It is located outside of the brain, but is exposed to the outside environment due to its connection to the nasal mucosa. The SPG is connected to a number of different pain-associated issues in the head, including migraine, tension and cluster headaches, as well as headaches with mixed symptoms.
What is an SPG Block?
An SPG block is a procedure that administers medication to the SPG, which modulates nerve impulses to try to provide effective and long-lasting pain relief.
If it works so well, why don’t more people do it?
The SPG block procedure has been around since the early 1900s. It is a historically effective procedure for the treatment of chronic head pain. Most physicians do not administer conventional SPG block procedures because they are invasive, highly uncomfortable for the patient, and have significant risk.
