Well I went to a new Neuro today and to be honest I wasn’t feeling my best, which perhaps held me back from getting the most out of the appointment or asking some of the questions I was going to. Also as I have been doing relatively well recently I was also loathed to push to try another med, which perhaps is what I was thinking when I booked the appointment.
Anyway he actually offered some constructive advice and also basically OK’d my use of 5HTP with the low dose of Nort that I’m taking, but perhaps more interestingly he said he refers a lot of his headache patients to a local physio. I looked her up and it appears that she specialises in headache and migraine conditions and follows an approach practised by the Australian Dean Watson.
This seems a bit left-field for a mainstream neuro to refer to but I like the fact that on the website he doesn’t seem to differentiate between migraine and tension headache saying they are just different presentations of the same thing, which is what I believe too.
Anyway I think I may give it a go - not sure if I may even be able to get this covered on insurance :shock:
stewjay
Interesting approach for your neuro to take. I wonder how many of the patients he refers to the physio have Vestibular Migraine and whether the treatment helps dizziness and balance or just headache.
Dean Watson says his treatment calms an irritable brainstem and stops the headache but doesn’t mention vertigo/dizziness or any of the other symptoms associated with chronic vestibular migraine. He also doesn’t say whether the treatment is permanent.
Will be very interested to hear how you get on. What symptoms are you finding worse at the moment?
Barb
To be honest my dizziness symptoms are generally a lot better than they were (maybe 80% better) but I still get daily headache with mild to moderate migraine type symptoms of light and sound sensitivity, brain fog etc.
It’s also interesting that I do get neck pain and tightness which if anything has got worse recently since I’ve been doing more exercise.
We didn’t review my symptoms as he had a fairly detailed letter from my GP so he didn’t offer any opinion as to whether I had MAV, VM, chronic migraine or tension headache, it was more a case of reviewing my medication and suggesting what else I could do.
I did get some temporary benefit from an osteopath who gave me some neck massage, so it will be interesting to see if a more headache focused approach could give more permanent benefit.
I’ll update you with how I get on - I notice your in Australia so could have access to the same treatment.
Well I went for my first appointment today with the headache physio.
It proved very interesting and hopeful. She explained that under Dr Watson’s training he believes that neck tension in the first two vertebra can be a big contributor to migraine and headache problems. The main nerve paths into the head pass between the base of the scull and the first vertebra and entrapment here can be a major headache cause.
She felt my first two vertebrae and found they were extremely tight, my first one was effectively rigid with no movement at all. She applied firm pressure to the areas (it was moderately painful) for a minute or two at a time to reduce the tension. She also noticed that my posture was poor (chin and neck forward instead of upright) and also I had a lopsided shoulder and twisted pelvis and will work on these too in future sessions as these are also potential contributory factors. She also offered advice for neck support during sleeping as I often wake with a headache.
Anyway it seemed helpful and she is also BUPA approved so I should be able to get the treatment covered on my insurance. Next appointment is Monday as she likes to do two a week to start with.