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tension headache

9 February 2005

Misdiagnosed with tension headache?

You might be taking the wrong medication, if you are trying to treat the wrong kind of headache. We’ve written here before that sinus headaches are often confused with migraine, but the same is true of tension headache. This past July, at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, Dr Robert Kaniecki reported on a study that showed just that.

423 patients from Canada and the USA were enrolled in the study. Some believed that they had tension or stress headache, while the rest had been diagnosed with tension or stress headache. When their symptoms were studied, guess what? A whopping 84% actually were suffering from migraine, according the the International Headache Society criteria! An additional 4% were diagnose as probably suffering from migraine. This report was in the Ob.Gyn. News. That’s likely 88% that were misdiagnosed!

Many patients are limping along with painkillers, with no understanding that there are special, targeted drugs and treatments just for migraine. But if you don’t know you have it, how can you treat it?

To do a quick check to see if your headaches are really just a symptom of migraine, check out this article on migraine diagnosis.

22 January 2005

Tension headache vs Brain Tumour

James Resources, Tips 0

One reason that people finally do see a doctor is because they’re worried that the headache is caused by something "serious", such as a brain tumour. That’s an excellent reason to see a doctor, by the way, if you can’t find any other reason. Let’s not knock it! But most headaches are simply tension headaches. This excellent little article from The Times discusses the difference between some serious symptoms and some less serious, such as tension headache and brain tumour, or Meningitis and the flu. For example, a headache from a brain tumour will generally come out of the blue and get worse and worse over a matter of weeks. Tension headaches tend to come and go.

Always remember, however, not to let a little knowledge keep you from seeing a doctor and getting a proper diagnosis. If you have any kind of new headache, or if your symptoms change, you should be talking to a doctor as soon as possible. Educating yourself and getting another opinion should always go hand in hand.