Why is Cluster Headache still so often Misdiagnosed?

Why is cluster headache still so often misdiagnosed? Why do patients have to wait so long before they get proper treatment?

The folks over at The Conversation decided to send out a medical sociologist to see what doctors actually knew about cluster.

Their findings were perhaps not surprising. Many doctors still do not really have a clear idea of what cluster headache is. This ranged from doctors who didn’t really know what it was at all, to those who confused it with “cluster migraine”.

In spite of their lack of knowledge, or maybe we should say because of it, doctors were generally not referring patients with cluster headache to neurologists.

Even when cluster headache was diagnosed, patients were still not given the most recommended treatments. The Conversation gives this example:

For example, the injectable triptans were often not prescribed because of their high cost. Some GPs instead prescribed cheaper oral triptans. But these are not effective for cluster headache patients. Many interviewed clinicians were not aware of the prescription policies for oxygen, which is an effect treatment for cluster headache.

Cluster headache is more than ‘just a headache’ – but this excruciating condition is often misdiagnosed

Before we are too quick to blame doctors, we need to remember that cluster is quite rare. However, it is an important category of headache, and so this informal study may reflect not only on cluster headache, but headaches conditions in general, which are not well understood. In other words, this is not in a rare category, but in the very common category of headache disorders.

Today there are excellent tools for diagnosing types of headaches and finding the most evidence-based treatments. Doctors need to take the initiative to get basic training in headache treatment, which will give them the tools they need to diagnose quickly and get the patient the treatment they need.

To read the full article, go here: Cluster headache is more than ‘just a headache’ – but this excruciating condition is often misdiagnosed