Headaches Specialist

Maryland Pain & Wellness Center

Pain Management & Interventional Pain Management Physician located in Crofton, MD & Prince Frederick, MD

Almost everybody gets headaches from time to time, but if chronic head pain prevents you from enjoying life to its fullest, Henry Achampong, MD, MS, and his experienced pain management team are here for you. At Maryland Pain & Wellness Center’s Delmar, Crisfield, Princess Ann, Pocomoke, Berlin, Ocean City, Cambridge, Easton Crofton, Prince Frederick, and Salisbury, Maryland, locations, they offer advanced pain treatment options that can restore your quality of life. Schedule an appointment with Maryland Pain & Wellness Center over the phone or online today.

Headaches Q & A

What are headaches?

Headaches involve mild, moderate, or severe head pain that’s short-lived or long-lasting. You might get a headache every now and then, or have one often enough to hinder your quality of life. Headache symptoms may include:

Atypical facial pain
Dental pain
Dull, aching pain
Throbbing pain
Severe pain with auras
Sharp pain in one area of your head

Migraine headaches are severe headaches often associated with nausea. You may see an aura, or visual disturbance, with a migraine. Tension headaches can cause mild to moderate pain that feels like a tight band around your head.

Cluster headaches often lead to intense pain around your eye or one side of your head and appear in clusters or bouts of frequent attacks.

What are the risk factors for headaches?

Anybody can develop headaches, but the following factors increase your risk:

Hormonal changes
Genetics
Alcohol or certain foods
A traumatic brain injury
Stress or strenuous exercise
Being dehydrated or skipping meals
Lack of sleep
Trigeminal neuralgia (tic douloureux), a painful disorder of a facial nerve
Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction
Painful postherpetic neuralgia (herpes zoster or shingles)

To diagnose the cause of headache pain, your pain specialist reviews your symptoms and medical history. They complete an exam and may use imaging tests, such as MRIs or CT scans.

How are headaches treated?

Your pain management physician might recommend one or more of the following treatments if you suffer from severe or chronic headache pain:

Lifestyle changes

Sometimes you only need to make lifestyle changes to reduce the severity or frequency of headaches. Examples include eating a healthy diet, limiting or avoiding alcohol, staying hydrated, getting plenty of sleep, and keeping stress levels low.

Alternative medicine

Alternative medicine strategies like chiropractic care, massage, yoga, meditation, other relaxation techniques, acupuncture, and herbal or dietary supplements may reduce the incidence or severity of headaches.

Medications

Your doctor might recommend taking over-the-counter or prescription pain medicines that relieve pain or help prevent any future headache or migraine attacks. You may require medications to help treat an underlying cause of head pain.

Don’t let severe or chronic headaches prevent you from enjoying your favorite everyday activities. Schedule an appointment with Maryland Pain & Wellness Center over the phone or online today.

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