Headache Clinic

There is good news for this region's share of the 45 million Americans who suffer from chronic headaches.

St. Bernards has established a new Headache Clinic and a Headache Support Group to offer help on two fronts to people who battle chronic headaches.

The program addresses needs of patients who cannot control headache pain and other debilitating symptoms with over-the-counter medications. There simply are times when some headache sufferers need specialized care for symptom relief in a quiet hospital setting. So we now have a program through which physicians can admit patients for round-theclock care by our dedicated team of nurses and other professionals.

A multidisciplinary team-neurologists and family physicians, nurses, physical therapists, dietitians and social workers-deliver pain management and help patients develop comprehensive plans for headache management.

Though there are different kinds of chronic headaches, the most common are migraines. Usually characterized by severe pain on one or both sides of the head, nausea, sensitivity to light and sound and sometimes disturbed vision, they are associated with intense, throbbing or pounding pain in the forehead, temple, ear, jaw or around the eye. They start on one side of the head but may eventually spread to the other...and can last for days.

More often affecting women, migraines can occur as often as several times a week...or as infrequently as once every few years. And they can be totally debilitating.

"We want chronic headache sufferers to know there is help-very effective help-for people whose lives seem to be controlled by their headaches," says Judy Martin, registered nurse in the Headache Clinic program who also serves as a facilitator for the St. Bernards Headache Support Group.

"Education is the key," she emphasizes, pointing out that with help from their physicians, people can break the headache cycle. Based on individual patient history-age, frequency of headaches, specific symptoms, etc.-your physician can develop a management plan that can give you your life back.

"The vast majority of migraine sufferers can learn to manage headaches so they no longer have to retreat to dark, quiet rooms, suffering for days while waiting for headaches to go away.

"Your physician is the starting point for understanding the headache process, figuring out what triggers it for you and learning what it takes to keep migraines at bay," Martin stresses.

"Just as triggers vary widely from person to person (ranging from stress and weather changes to diet and odors), treatment plans are individualized as well.

"Under physician guidance, our headache team can help you find effective treatments. We do it for our patients at the Headache Clinic. And we take many of those same messages to the community through quarterly meetings of our Headache Support Group.

"We understand the debilitating nature of chronic headaches. And we will be there when you need us," Martin says.