Migraines Specialist

What are migraines?

Migraines are usually severe headaches that often cause nausea and vomiting. The pain in your head is intense during a migraine attack. You might experience other distressing symptoms like:

• Light and sound sensitivity
• Weakness
• Dizziness or lightheadedness
• Aura

Aura affects about a third of people before or during a migraine. Auras are visual disturbances like seeing zig-zag lines, dots, or flashing lights. You might experience temporary sight loss.

Some people only have migraines infrequently, going for years between attacks. Others have them more often. Some have them many times every month, causing significant disability.

What causes migraines?

The exact cause of migraines isn’t clear. The symptoms develop because of neurological (brain and nervous system) abnormalities, but what causes these flaws is unknown. There could be a genetic link because migraines tend to run in families.

Most people find they have one or more triggers that significantly increase their risk of developing a migraine. Common triggers include:

• Stress
• Irregular meals
• Lack of sleep
• Hormonal changes
• Bright or flashing lights
• Red wine
• Chocolate
• Caffeine
• Certain foods (like aged cheeses)

Trigger points (painful, knotted tissues) in your head, neck, and shoulder muscles are common in people who get migraines.

Women are three times more likely to get migraines than men. This could be due to the changes in hormone levels related to their reproductive cycle.

How are migraines treated?

Migraines aren’t curable, but the Cleaver Medical Group Interventional Pain team offers the most effective current treatments. These include:

Botox injections

Medical Botox injections in your head stop chemicals called neurotransmitters in your brain from delivering pain messages.

Trigger point injections

Trigger point injections might contain a local anesthetic, steroid medication, or both. The injections ease the tension in your trigger points that could be causing your migraines or making them worse.

Occipital nerve block

The occipital nerve is responsible for most sensations in the back and top of the head. A nerve block injection contains a local anesthetic that numbs this part of your head.

Cervical medial branch blocks

Another common kind of repeating headache (cervicogenic) is caused by cervical spine (neck) problems. Some migraine patients also benefit from a local anesthetic injection (nerve block) in this area.

Radiofrequency ablation

Radiofrequency ablation uses energy from radio waves to destroy nerves that are causing migraines.

Medications are also available that stop your migraines from happening so often and reduce their severity.

Call Cleaver Medical Group Interventional Pain today or book an appointment online to find the migraine treatment that works for you.