Headache

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Headache Care at Trinity Health Michigan: Why Choose Us?

Board-certified neurologists specializing in headache medicine, some of whom are internationally recognized, guide your care. They have a depth of experience treating common and complex forms of headache and facial pain. Trinity Health Michigan is home to the nation’s first hospital-based head pain unit. We have been caring for our community’s most complex cases since the 1970s.

Our team approach helps you receive seamless care, enabling you to focus on healing. Headache specialists regularly communicate with nurses, physical therapists, psychologists, social workers and other providers to coordinate your care. These efforts also include discussing your treatment progress and adjusting therapies as necessary.

Headache Diagnosis

We perform a thorough exam to accurately diagnose the type of headache you are experiencing. It involves listening carefully as you describe your symptoms and performing a neurologic exam. Sometimes imaging studies, such as a CT scan or MRI, are necessary. Read more about neurodiagnostics.

Headache Treatments

Headache treatments we offer include:

Medications and Infusions

Medications are a common headache treatment. We prescribe the appropriate option for your needs and explain when and how to take it. Our participation in research gives you access to new headache medications before they become widely available.

Infusions are a method of delivering large doses of medication through a vein in your arm. We often prescribe infusions for severe headaches, such as migraine. Infusions are available on short notice when necessary — sometimes the same day.

Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Complementary and alternative medicine treats headaches without medications. Trinity Health Michigan is home to experienced complementary and alternative medicine providers, so you can get more of the services you need in one program. We may recommend these therapies instead of drugs or to help you get the most out of medical therapy.

Treatment may include relaxation, biofeedback (learning to recognize the early symptoms of headache episodes), massage or diet changes. You may also benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy, which may change your perception of pain and how you respond to it.

Botox® Injections for Migraines

If you experience migraine symptoms four hours a day for more than 15 days a month, Botox may be right for you. Injecting small doses of this purified toxin into select head and neck muscles can reduce symptom severity and frequency.

Nerve Blocks

We inject pain medication and other substances into tissue near a nerve. The injection site depends on the type and location of your symptoms.

Your care may include:

• Occipital nerve blocks for pain behind the eyes, at the skull base or at the top of the head
• Supraorbital nerve blocks to treat pain in front of the scalp, across the forehead or near the upper eyelid
• Sphenopalatine ganglion blocks, which go into a bundle of nerves supplying the head, neck and face

Physical Therapy

Physical therapists use a variety of techniques to reduce symptom severity:

• Exercise, such as light physical activity, like yoga, that promotes blood flow
• Massage, which releases tense neck muscles that contribute to head or facial pain
• Manual cervical traction, gentle pulling and stretches to take pressure off your neck
• Relaxation techniques, deep breathing to help you cope with symptoms and possibly prevent them from worsening

Surgery for Facial Pain

For electric shock-like facial pain due to trigeminal neuralgia, you may benefit from a procedure called microvascular decompression. Neurosurgeons remove or relocate blood vessels that are pressing against the trigeminal nerve. Get more information about neurosurgery.

Types of Headaches We Treat

• Cervicogenic headache: Pain in your head or neck that stems from muscle strain or an injury involving the upper (cervical) spine
• Cluster headache: Extremely painful headache causing bouts of pain every day that can go on for months
• Exercise (exertion) headache: Throbbing head pain on one or both sides that’s triggered by physical activity
• Hypnic headache: Rare headache with pain on both sides that develops while you are sleeping
• Migraine: Frequent attacks that may include throbbing head pain, nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light
• Occipital neuralgia: Inflammation in scalp nerves that causes severe pain in the back of the head and upper neck
• Sinus headache: Pressure in air pockets behind your nose due to allergies or an infection
• Tension headache: Head pain due to stress, which often causes tension in head and neck muscles
• Thunderclap headache: Sudden, severe bout of head pain that is sometimes a sign of a life-threatening condition, like a brain bleed
• Trigeminal neuralgia: Nerve irritation causing short bursts of pain in the teeth, jaw or cheek that feels like an electrical shock