Headaches Since I was a teenager worsening and becoming excruciating .

Authored by: Dr Shapira

Tell us about your headaches... Stephanie I've been suffering from headaches since I was an early teen. It was around the age of 17 that they began to worsen. I noticed when I would stand up or sit down quickly, I would get these excruciatingly, sharp pains in one area in my head- generally, the right side. It feels almost like someone is using a crowbar to pry open my skull. Now my headaches have progressed as I have gotten older. Now when I start getting those headaches the excruciating pain comes out of nowhere. I'll be walking across the room and I get the "crowbar" feeling- very intense, very brief. But I'll still have a constant, underlying headache with bursts of pain. I've noticed the last few times I've been getting these headaches, they last for a few days, I feel sick to my stomach, my hearing is distant and it hurts to keep my eyes open. It puts an abrupt stop to everything I am doing. I try to self-medicate with excedrine migraine. I drink water. I try to sleep it off. Nothing seems to help but time. But I don't always have time and i can't afford to take the time off work to let it pass.

Dr Shapira's Response: Stepanie, it sounds like there are several different problems that are overlapping. I believe you have chronic muscle tension headaches as an underlying symptom. Those respond excedingly well to Neuromuscular dentistry. You may have an overlay of a neurogenic or vascular type headache as well. The trigeminally innervated muscular headaches are often a trigger for the other types. They are all mediated by the Trigeminal Nerve, often called the dentists nerve.

The problem is you are always near the "breakthru" pain. The autonomic nervous system is overloaded giving youthe symptoms you describe ae " I feel sick to my stomach, my hearing is distant and it hurts to keep my eyes open" The fact that this is chronic and nothing helps would lead me to advise you to see a neuromuscular dentist and get a diagnostic orthotic ASAP. It may not be a "magic" cure but we usually see a 50-80% improvement in symptoms very quickly.

I see patients from across the US in my Gurnee, Illinois office There are several ICCMO members in Nevada who practice Neuromuscular Dentistry. Dr Norman Thomas does not see patients but he is associated with LVI, the Las Vegas Institue and is one of the most knowledgable people in the world on Neuromuscular Dentistry. None of these doctors are participants of I Hate Headaches.org but they are all members of ICCMO the leading group for Neuromuscular Dentistry.

Dr Sam Kherani would probably be my first choice of practitioners in your area to improve the quality of your life. I Hate Headaches is dedicated to helping patient thousands of patients find answers for their problems thru neuromuscular dentistry.

Name: Norman Thomas

Mastership: MICCMO