Headache, Migraine and Facial Surgery

In survey of 75 patients who had undergone surgery for facial pain all had ongoing symptoms. The researchers concluded that the causes of symptoms were migraine, cluster headache, paroxysmal hemicrania and tension headache, and that sinus surgery in the large majority of patients presenting with facial pain should avoid surgery; that all surgeons when assessing facial pain should be aware of non-sinuonasal diagnoses.

An enlightened ENT Specialist refers patients to me to determine if facial pain is referred from disorders of the upper neck – and more often it is! Temporary reproduction and easing of familiar facial pain when upper neck structures are gently stressed confirms this in the large majority of patients with facial pain.

Cheers

Dean

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YourHeadacheSoultions.co.uk is one voice of the Watson Headache Institute.

The Watson Headache Institute was established to increase the awareness of cervicogenic (neck) disorders in headache and migraine by imparting my (and that of others) clinical experience and knowledge; to present and discuss past and present relevant research and to undertake and support rigorous clinical and scientific research in this specialty.

Appropriate and up-to-date knowledge is self-empowering; I believe that every headache sufferer has the right to know their headache diagnosis as precisely as possible (and what it means), to know the nature of their headache disorder, its outcome and possible types of treatment.

What has yet to gain acceptance is my (and that of others) belief, supported by my unparalleled clinical experience and a significant body of international research, that it is incorrect to consider headache and migraine types as totally different entities and that cervicogenic (neck) disorders can be instrumental in the headache and migraine process.

Although Physiotherapy, Chiropractic and Osteopathy are different disciplines, we are supporters of the idea that headache and migraine sufferers, no matter what their diagnoses, can be helped to live their lives more effectively through appropriate neck treatment. However, because treatment of the neck does not fit the medical model of headache and migraine, the model has demonstrated little interest in exploring this as an option. It is essential that all factors, which have the potential to sensitise the brainstem, be investigated equally.  Currently this is not the situation – the neck is largely disregarded.

So, whilst YourHeadacheSolutions.com is also about Education, it is also a directory for headache and migraine sufferers to source practitioners who have a particular interest in and are skilled in examination of the neck as a source of your headache or migraine – to create a more comprehensive approach and provide an alternative, medication-free treatment.