Journal of Yoga & Physical Therapy
Open Access

Diagnosis and Treatment of Common Headache Syndromes: A Guide for the Clinician

¹Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, Missouri, USA

²Sinai Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, Missouri, USA

³Vision Research Center, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, Missouri, USA

*Corresponding Author:

Steven D Waldman, MD, JD
Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology
University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine
Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Tel: 913-327-5999
E-mail: [email protected]

Received Date: January 03, 2014; Accepted Date: January 28, 2014; Published Date: January 31, 2014

Citation: Waldman SD, Waldman CW, Waldman RA (2014) Diagnosis and Treatment of Common Headache Syndromes: A Guide for the Clinician. J Yoga Phys Ther 4:156. doi: 10.4172/2157-7595.1000156

Copyright: © 2014 Waldman SD, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Headache is a one of the most common problems encountered in clinical practice. Over 90 per cent of headaches fall into one of four diagnostic categories: (1) Tension-type headache; (2) Migraine headache; (3) Cluster headache; and (4) Medication overuse headache. The mainstay of diagnosis of these common headaches is the taking of a careful targeted headache history. The physical examination in patients suffering from these common headaches is almost always normal and abnormalities identified on physical examination in this patient population should raise concern. Appropriate use of diagnostic imaging including magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and cervical spine is indicated in those patients with a recent onset of headaches and in those patients in whom a previously stable headache pattern has changed. Laboratory testing will also help the clinician rule out co-existent or occult disease that may be contributing to the patient’s headache symptomatology. In most cases, treatment plans should be aimed at preventing headache rather than aborting the headache after symptoms have already occurred. Care must be taken to identify overuse or misuse of medications prescribed to treat headache, as many of these medications have the propensity to cause medication overuse headaches.