Headaches
LA Pain Doctor
Pain Management Specialists located in Metairie, Laplace, Harvey, New Orleans, and Luling, LA
Everyone occasionally gets a tension headache, but 17% of all Americans suffer from severe headaches and migraines that often cause time off from work and hours spent in miserable pain. Firas Hijazi, MD, and Satvik Munshi, MD, at LA Pain Doctor determine the type and cause of your headache and offer medical and interventional therapies that alleviate your pain and help prevent future headaches. If you need relief from the pain, call one of the offices in Metairie, LaPlace, Harvey, or New Orleans, Louisiana, or schedule an appointment online.
Headaches Q & A
What causes headaches?
Headaches are placed into one of two categories, depending on their cause:
Primary headaches
Primary headaches develop due to a problem in your head or neck, such as muscle tension, nerve or blood vessel problems, or unusual chemical activity in your brain. Examples of primary headaches include migraines and tension headaches.
Secondary headaches
Secondary headaches are caused by an underlying health condition, such as sinus congestion, a traumatic brain injury, infections, and jaw disorders.
What symptoms develop due to a headache?
Though pain is the primary symptom of all headaches, the duration, severity, quality, and location of your pain differs for each type of headache.
With more than 150 headache categories, there are too many to provide a comprehensive list of symptoms. To give you an example, these are the symptoms of three common headaches:
Tension headaches
A tension headache generally causes mild to moderate pain that feels like your head is being squeezed. These headaches can last from 30 minutes to a week.
Cluster headaches
Cluster headaches cause severe, piercing pain that’s usually around one eye or on one side of your head. These headaches last from 15 minutes to several hours and appear in clusters. For example, you’ll have daily headaches for weeks or months before the headache goes into remission.
Migraine headaches
Migraines cause intense, throbbing pain that’s usually focused around one temple but can affect both sides. These headaches last 4-72 hours if left untreated. You’ll experience bodywide symptoms, such as vomiting, nausea, and sensitivity to lights, sounds and smells. Migraines can be triggered by various factors, including caffeine, skipping a meal, and stress.
What type of treatment might relieve my headache?
Your provider at LA Pain Doctor goes over your medical history and performs an exam to determine the type of headache, then your treatment targets that type and may include:
- Plan to identify and avoid triggers
- Medication to treat pain
- Medication to shorten headache duration
- Medication to prevent future headaches
- Trigger point injections
- Botox® injections
- Occipital nerve block
- Trigeminal nerve block
- Sphenopalatine ganglion nerve block
The team at LA Pain Doctor offers many treatment options to effectively relieve headache pain. If you need help with headaches, call one of the offices or schedule an appointment online today.
Our Services
PAIN MANAGEMENT
NECK PAIN
SCIATICA
BACK PAIN
ARTHRITIS
HIP PAIN
KNEE PAIN
HERNIATED DISC
PROLOTHERAPY
DEGENERATIVE DISC DISEASE
SPORTS INJURIES
SHOULDER PAIN
ARM PAIN
MUSCLE PAIN
HEADACHES
LEG PAIN