Headaches & Migraines Blog

We're looking for passionate and enthusiastic individual to be the Guide to the Headaches / Migraines site of About.com!

What sort of information do we want the new Guide to provide?
Well, we're looking for someone to educate people who suffer from headaches or migraines. The site should answer their questions about headaches and migraines, help them make treatment decisions with a counselor or health care provider, and educate them as to how they can take action to prevent the recurrence of headaches and migraines.

What sort of person are we looking for to be the new Guide to Headaches & Migraines?
Our ideal candidate:

• a physician, psychiatrist or nurse who works directly with headache and migraine patients
• a counselor or health educator with extensive experience educating and treating patients with headaches and migraines

If this sounds like you, and you've got excellent writing skills and the desire to reach and teach a broad audience through your writing, why not go over to our application site to learn more about our hiring program and submit an application?

Most of us with headaches and migraines find either cold or hot packs of some kind to be helpful. Many of us have found our favorites, often different kinds for different situations.

I recently came across one of the more unusual ones I've seen -- it's a teddy bear. The Gelly Belly Grizzly Bear has gel packs (one included with the bear) that can be heated in the microwave or chilled in the freezer, then fit into the bear through a nearly invisible opening in the back that's kept closed with Velcro. They can be used by headache and migraine sufferers for hot or cold therapy.

Read my review of the Gelly Belly Grizzly Bear

Do you have questions about headaches or migraines? Many of our readers do, and each week, Dr. John Claude Krusz and I answer some of them. Dr. Krusz is a world recognized headache and migraine expert, often conducting groundbreaking research at his clinic in Dallas. You can view thousands of questions and answers in our Ask the Clinician archives. If you've never perused the archives, take a look. It's a great place to find answers to questions that many of us have had.

After nearly four years of answering your questions, we have some questions that are asked frequently or are especially good questions. This week, we share 75 of those questions...

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Many of you who read our site don't always feel up to "surfing the Web" because of your headaches or migraines, so in Health Connections, I put together links to content on other About Health sites regarding issues that may be of interest to you.

As we begin 2007, I think all of us are looking at ways to improve our health and lives this year. So, in this week's Health Connections, let's take a look at resolutions, plans, and tips for living with headaches and migraines as well as other conditions that tend to frequently affect us. Ready, set, surf...
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In the last three years, Dr. John Claude Krusz and I have answered well over 1,500 questions in our Ask the Clinician column. Our readers ask a multitude of excellent questions on quite a range of topics from the cause of migraine disease to triggers, medications, new treatments, comorbid conditions, and much more.

There is one question, however, that stands out as the all-time most freuqently asked question. Not a week goes by that this question isn't submitted for ask the clinician and asked on our forum, usually multiple times. Here it is as most recently submitted:

I have been on every kind of prevention medication available and am still having bad and frequent migraines. My doctors said they have tried everything and they don't know what else to do with me. I'm feeling very helpless and need to know if there is anything else out there or if there is anything coming out that may be able to help me and give me a normal life?

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It's Monday - time to take a look at something we can do to improve our health as we start the work week. Since we're also starting a new year, and some of you have mentioned improving the relationship with your current doctor or finding a new one as something you plan to do this year, let's review information about working with doctors.

We often talk about finding the right doctor for our needs and how to best work with our doctors. There are great doctors out there, but how do we find them? We all wish we had doctors like Dr. William B. Young at the Jefferson Headache Center who said, "An educated patient is a better patient. I'd far rather have a treatment partner than a dishrag." A look at our forum shows that some of our members are experiencing great success working with their doctors; some aren't meeting with success at all...
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It's that time of year...

that time when we all make resolutions. Some we're able to keep, some -- well, let's not go there. Resolutions can be a great tool to achieving goals that we set for ourselves. The answer is to be realistic when making our resolutions. For 2007, I've challenged myself to make realistic resolutions and actually keep them. I'm also challenging you to do the same. Let's share our resolutions, then check in with each other during the year and at the end of the year. During the year, we can encourage each other; at the end of the year, we'll see how we've done. Ready... set... make your resolutions! Use the poll at the right to share your resolutions. You may select as many as you want. If your resolution isn't on the poll or you want to comment, just click the "comments" link below. Those of you with thyroid issues may also want to go to About's thyroid disease site and share your resolutions there. From all of us to all of you, here's wishing you a wonderful 2007 full of health and happiness!

Have you ever had someone say something to you about your headaches or migraines that seems extremely insensitive or way off track? How about something very kind and understanding? When you suffer from headaches and migraines, it seems that people can say things that go either way.

When someone says something nice, you feel as if there's hope. On the other hand, the insensitive or off track comments can make you want to rip your hair out. We've learned that sharing those comments, good or bad, makes us feel less alone. This time of year leads me to hope that we all here more good and fewer bad comments in the coming year...
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Some of the most common New Year's resolutions involve health. Let's take a constructive look at what we can do to live well with migraines and headaches in 2007. Each of us can set the level of our resolutions in relation to our health and abilities. Instead of shooting for the stars, let's shoot for better, more productive days. If we catch a few stars along the way, so much the better.

Let's get started!
We'll take a look at 10 keys including:

• Evaluate Your Medical Team
• Review Your Treatment Regimen
• Dump the Guilt
• more...

Read Living Well - 10 Keys for Taking Control

As we look toward a new year, here's wishing you good health and freedom from pain!

Many of you who read our site don't always feel up to "surfing the Web" because of your headaches or migraines, so in Health Connections, I put together links to content on other About Health sites regarding issues that may be of interest to you.

Looking around About's Health Channel, I found some interesting pieces for you that apply to conditions that often come with headaches and migraines, holiday parties, and resolutions. Ready, set, surf...
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