Intractable pain, headache or otherwise, is a devastating and life-controlling experience.  The need to effectively and aggressively control pain is a fundamental tenet of clinical care.  In the past several years, increasing adovacacy for continuous opioid therapy...

Certain migraines are labeled as refractory, but the entity lacks a well-accepted operational definition.  A recent survey was sent to American Headache Society members to evaluate interest in a definition for refractory migraine and what were considered necessary...

A recent study was conducted to identify factors that predict adherence to triptans by migraine patients.  Triptans have demonstrated efficacy for acute migraine, yet many migraine sufferers discontinue their use.  The study group used consisted of sustained users...

A recent study was conducted to characterize menstrually associated headaches and migraine in adolescent girls and to identify any developmental or pubertal changes.  Headache and migraine are a common problem in adolescents that often transition into a more...

A recent study was conducted to assess whether family history for chronic headache and drug overuse could be a possible risk factor for headache chronification.  The study group consisted of patients with daily or near daily headaches that underwent a structured...

We conducted a study that assessed 115 patients with refractory chronic migraine over a six year period who were treated with long-acting opiods.  This was a select group of patients who had all done well previously with short-acting opiods.  65% of the patients did...

Resources: An excellent newsletter, Nutrition Action Health Letter is $24 a year.  Visit www.cspinet.org to subscribe.  A good website for healthy living is www.sparkpeople.com, with over a million members.  It has sections for both adults and teens.  Sparkpeople has...

Feverfew, Petadolex, and magnesium oxide, have all held up in double-blind studies as migraine preventatives.  Petadolex has been the most effective. 1. Petadolex: Commonly used in Europe, this herb has been successful in several well-designed blinded studies.  The...

Everybody feels somewhat anxious or worried at times, often increased by stressful events.  Feeling very anxious or constantly worried without stress, and on a chronic basis, may be "generalized anxiety disorder" (GAD).  With GAD, there is usually unrealistic worrying...

Insomnia is commonly seen in migraine and chronic daily headache patients. Rules for Better Sleep: 1. Sleep as much as needed to feel refreshed and healthy during the following day, but not more.  Curtailing the time in bed seems to slidify sleep; excessively long...