Specialist Nerve Pain & Headaches Treatment
Find real relief and effective solutions for your chronic headaches or nerve condition with Hertfordshire Pain Consultants – our specialism is beating pain.
Chronic Headaches
More than 10 million people in the UK get regular tension or sinus headaches, but in many cases lifestyle changes such as improving diet plus over the counter medication will do the job. Chronic, severe headaches like migraines are a different matter – we understand they are extremely debilitating, forcing many sufferers to stop all normal activity and withdraw into a dark room until they lessen somewhat.
These are some common conditions which result in patients suffering chronic headaches:
- Migraine – acute, throbbing pain, often accompanied by nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light or sound. The exact cause of migraines has not been discovered, but they are generally thought to be the result of abnormal brain activity which temporarily affects nerve signals, chemicals and blood vessels in the brain.
- Cluster Headache – excruciatingly painful, cluster headaches occur in one area (often around the eye) and happen over a period of a month or two around the same time of year. Their cause has not been fully identified, but they’ve been linked to abnormal activity in the part of the brain called the hypothalamus.
- Cerviogenic Headache – while the condition is experienced as an acute headache, it is actually caused by a neck disorder.
Migraine treatment is generally taken care of by strong prescription pain medication, while other conditions need a more complex pain treatment program to manage effectively. To give you an idea of the range of options we have in our arsenal to provide you with effective chronic headache relief, here is a list of typical treatments:
- Prescribed Medications
- Acupuncture
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
- Botox Injection
- Microvascular Decompression
- Nerve Block Injection
Chronic Nerve Pain
We are all well acquainted with nerve pain of some sort, mostly from hurting ourselves accidentally. Called nociceptive pain, discomfort is caused by the damage or stimulation of tiny nerve endings, which then send a message to the brain that results in a sharp or aching sensation. This type of pain can usually be treated effectively using normal pain killers.
On the other hand, neuropathic pain is caused by a problem with your actual nerves, causing them to function abnormally in how they send messages to your brain. This results in pain sensations such as acute aching, burning, stabbing, shooting, or electric shocks. We understand there is a wide range of causes for this type of nerve condition, and that unlike nociceptive pain, neuropathic nerve pain treatment is not as simple as taking normal pain killers. This is why it is essential to visit a nerve pain specialist – we will get to the root of the problem and formulate a comprehensive, tailored treatment program to reduce your suffering and significantly improve your quality of life.
These are some common conditions which result in patients suffering chronic nerve pain:
- Fibromyalgia – a central nervous system disorder caused by an abnormality in the way the spinal cord and brain processes pain signals. It results in widespread body pain, sleep problems and mood disturbance.
- Complex Regional Pain Syndrome – a disorder that causes nerves to become overly sensitised, leading to the body having a compromised ability in registering stimuli as well as controlling blood vessels and body temperature.
- Post-Surgical Pain – there is increasing evidence that while the rest of the body heals naturally after surgery, nerve damage can lead to chronic pain problems if not treated early. This can occur after even minor operations such as dental surgery.
To give you an idea of the range of options we have in our arsenal to provide you with effective nerve pain relief, here is a list of typical treatments:
- Prescribed Medications
- Physiotherapy
- Acupuncture
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
- Trigger Point Injection
- Microvascular Decompression
- Spinal Cord Stimulation.
For both chronic headache and nerve pain conditions, rather than detailing complex medical procedures here, our Pain Management Clinic approach rests on getting to know patients thoroughly and discussing with them in person the treatment program that is best suited to their needs.
Please feel free to Contact our team of experts to discuss your individual condition – we are dedicated to providing effective pain relief to help you resume living life to the fullest.
Dr Johann Emmanuel – Consultant In Pain Medicine
Bsc, MBBS, MRCP, FRCA, FFPMANZCA, FFPMRCA
Speciality : Pain Medicine
Year Qualified : 1999
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