Monday, June 15, 2015

Control Your Headaches, Don't Let Them Control You.

Yesterday, a patient said to me, "Dr. Cheryl these prism glasses are doing something! My headaches are getting better.". This young woman has been suffering from extreme headaches her whole life. She was taking various medications everyday to control them. When it was 'that time of the month', the headaches would be unbearable. She had to stay in a dark room at those times for often days. These headaches were destroying her life. Work, school, social life, all were suffering.

I explained to her that many factors contributing to her headaches we could not control, especially the hormonal swings every month, but we could control many triggers. First, she stopped  all caffeine and caffeine containing medications, cold turkey. This was not an easy task. She suffered from a terrible rebound headache the first week. Unfortunately, this is the only way to get out of the caffeine- headache cycle.  The caffeine may make the headache better but it is only a temporary fix. The headaches will only be that much worse when they return.

Second, I corrected the vertical imbalance in her visual system. Vertical Heterophoria was causing a constant strain and stress on her visual system. This constant stress was a major headache trigger for this patient. The prisms in her new glasses made an immediate impact on her vision and her symptoms.

Now, she is working on controlling other dietary triggers. It is tough to give up caffeine and chocolate! I am very proud of all her hard work and I truly believe she will soon be completely headache free.

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