Chronic Migraine: Therapeutic Alternatives

A migraine is a headache that can cause severe throbbing pain or a pulsing sensation, usually on one side of the head. It’s often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to light and sound. Migraine attacks can last for hours to days, and the pain can be so severe that it interferes with your daily activities.

For some people, a warning symptom known as an aura occurs before or with the headache. An aura can include visual disturbances, such as flashes of light or blind spots, or other disturbances, such as tingling on one side of the face or in an arm or leg and difficulty speaking.

There are a number of migraine triggers, including hormonal changes in women; hormonal medications, such as oral contraceptives; drinks. (alcohol, especially wine, and too much caffeine); Stress; Sensory stimuli (bright or flashing lights, loud sounds, strong smells); Sleep changes; physical factors; weather changes; medications; Foods; Food additives (the sweetener aspartame and the preservative monosodium glutamate-MSG)

Medications can help prevent some migraines and make them less painful. The right medicines, combined with self-help remedies and lifestyle changes, might help. Additionally, there are three pain-blocking treatments available in our practice: Botox, Nerve Block injections and Sphenopalatine Ganglion Block.

Relief you can get in our office: 

Botox injections for migraine are ideal for patients with chronic migraine for whom traditional treatments have been unsuccessful. They provide long term relief and the injections are usually repeated every 3 months as long as needed. Botox injections do not present serious side effects, eliminate the need for daily medication and have a cumulative improvement effect.

Some insurance plans do not cover this treatment, that is why the manufacturer offers a savings program, making it possible for you to afford the treatment, even without insurance. We have manufacturer’s coupons available for you to enrol in the program and help you pay for this treatment.

Call us for an appointment and to get the details of the savings program.

Nerve Block injections are for patients who cannot take traditional medications (like pregnant and nursing women) and is effective in relieving pain until another option is available. Each injection’s pain relief varies per patient, from several days to a few weeks or even months and is applied at the site where the headache is located. They provide fast relief, are applied at the doctor’s office and allow patients to avoid powerful painkillers with serious side effects.

Sphenopalatine Ganglion Block This procedure aims to reduce the release of the chemical norepinephrine, therefore reducing the pain. This ganglion is located deep into the head, behind the face, above the palate. With this minimally invasive procedure, pain-relieving medicine is injected into the region where the ganglion lies. Once the medicine takes effect on the ganglion, the pain relief extends to the area affected by the migraine.