What if what you thought were migraines had a treatable cause? What we commonly describe as migraine pain may have a source. It is through finding the source of your head pain that treatment options become a reality.
I recently had the opportunity to be part of a young woman’s journey of chronic headache pain. For the past 15 years since childhood she had suffered from daily headaches. It was over the past few years that they had gotten worse. She called them “ocular migraines” as her pain was in her eyes, she had vision issues and her neurologist used this term as her diagnosis. Prior to starting Physical Therapy, she was missing work regularly and debilitating headaches occurred weekly. She had also tried medication for her migraines but had started the weaning process. A not uncommon situation, her side effects required the addition of five other medications! Her reason for stopping her migraine medication was not related to her headache pain anymore. Her “ocular migraines” were better. The side effects from her medication included loss of memory, irritability and other symptoms limiting her ability to work.
Unfortunately this story is all too familiar. During my years of practice, I hear a frequent plea. “There has got to be a better way.” There is a desire for a non-medication approach to treating headache pain.
