Headache and its homeopathic treatment

Contributed by Dr.George
Headache is usually a benign symptom, and only occasionally is it the manifestation of a serious illness such as brain tumor, subarachnoid hemorrhage, meningitis, or giant cell arteritis.severe, disabling headache is reported to occur at least annually by 40 percent of individuals worldwide.

CLINICAL VARIETIES OF HEADACHE
MIGRAINE:A useful definition of migraine is a benign and recurring syndrome of headache, nausea, vomiting, and/or other symptoms of neurologic dysfunction in varying admixtures. Migraine can often be recognized by its activators (red wine, menses, hunger, lack of sleep, glare, estrogen, worry, perfumes, let-down periods) and its deactivators (sleep, pregnancy, exhilaration, sumatriptan)

CLUSTER HEADACHE:The most common form of this syndrome is manifested by one to three short-lived daily attacks of periorbital pain over a 4- to 8-week interval followed by a pain-free interval that averages 1 year.The painful attacks are often associated with a homolateral red, tearing eye, nasal stuffiness, and ptosis.

TENSION HEADACHE:The term tension headache is still commonly used to describe a chronic head pain syndrome characterized by tight bandlike discomfort.Patients may report that the head feels as if it is in a vise or that the posterior neck muscles are tight. The pain typically builds slowly, fluctuates in severity, and may persist more or less continuously for many days.In some patients, anxiety or depression coexist with tension headache. Many investigators believe that periodic tension headache is biologically indistinguishable from migraine.
LUMBAR PUNCTURE HEADACHE:Headache following lumbar puncture . usually begins within 48 h but may be delayed for up to 12 days. Its incidence is between 10 and 30 percent.Head pain is dramatically positional; it begins when the patient sits or stands upright; there is relief upon reclining or with abdominal compression. The longer the patient is upright, the longer the latency before head pain subsides.

POSTCONCUSSION HEADACHES:Following seemingly trivial head injuries and particularly after rear- end motor vehicle collisions, many patients report varying combinations of headache, dizziness, vertigo, and impaired memory.Anxiety, irritability and difficulty with concentration are other hallmarks of this syndrome. Symptoms may remit after several weeks or persist for months and even years after the injury.

TEMPORAL ARTERITIS:Temporal (giant cell) arteritis is an inflammatory disorder of arteries that frequently involves the extracranial carotid circulation. This is a common disorder of the elderly.Fifty percent of patients with untreated temporal arteritis develop blindness due to involvement of the ophthalmic artery and its branches.

COUGH HEADACHE:A male-dominated (4:1) syndrome, cough headache is characterized by transient, severe head pain upon coughing, bending, lifting, sneezing, or stooping. Head pain persists for seconds to a few minutes.

COITAL HEADACHE:This is another male-dominated (4:1) syndrome. Attacks occur periorgasmically, are very abrupt in onset, and subside in a few minutes if coitus is interrupted.These are nearly always benign events and usually occur sporadically

BRAIN TUMOR HEADACHE:About 30 percent of patients with brain tumors consider headache to be their chief complaint. The head pain syndrome is usually nondescript-an intermittent deep,dull aching of moderate intensity, which may worsen with exertion or change in position and may be associated with nausea and vomiting.

HEADACHE CAUSED BY SYSTEMIC ILLNESS:There is hardly any illness that is never manifested by headache; however, some illnesses are characteristically associated with headache.

These headaches are managed themselves by the patient with pain  killers and after a continued use these can produce severe side effects in long run.These headaches are effectively managed by homeopathy. Homeopathy  goes in the root of the case and inquires the past history of the patient. Many times I have come across cases of headache that has been caused by suppressed skin problems by ointments. Homeopathic medicines have the ability to stimulate the living body to bring back the suppressed skin problem and thus cure the headaches. The skin problem the goes off within a few weeks and the patient is cured completely.
All  these headache has a cause and and there are exiting factors such as exposure to sun, loss of sleep, weather, certain food intake , emotional cause, hormonal changes etc.

The most success in chronic cases comes from the great remedies like PHOSPHORUS, NATRUM MUR, PULSATILLA AND CALCAREA. Acute attacks of headache can also be managed effectively by homeopathy. The main medicines include BRYONIA, BELLADONA, IRIS VERS, GLONOINE, SANGUNARAIA, HEPAR SULPH, MERC SOL, CHAM, etc.

There are more than 767 remedies given in the synthesis repertory.