Table of Contents
What is Paroxysmal Hemicrania?
Is there any treatment?
What is the prognosis?
What research is being done?
Organizations
What is Paroxysmal Hemicrania?
Paroxysmal hemicrania is a rare form of headache that usually begins in
adulthood. Patients experience severe throbbing, claw-like, or
boring pain usually on one side of the face; in, around, or behind
the eye; and occasionally reaching to the back of the neck. This
pain may be accompanied by red and tearing eyes, a drooping or
swollen eyelid on the affected side of the face, and nasal
congestion. Patients may also feel dull pain, soreness, or
tenderness between attacks. Attacks of paroxysmal hemicrania
typically occur from 5 to 40 times per day and last 2 to 45 minutes.
The disorder has two forms: chronic, in which patients experience
attacks on a daily basis for a year or more, and episodic, in which
the headaches may remit for months or years. Certain movements of
the head or neck or external pressure to the neck may trigger these
headaches in some patients. The disorder is more common in women
than in men.
Is there any treatment?
The nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) indomethacin often provides complete
relief from symptoms. Other less effective NSAIDs, calcium-channel
blocking drugs (such as verapamil), and corticosteroids may be used
to treat the disorder. Patients with both paroxysmal hemicrania and
trigeminal neuralgia (a condition of the 5th cranial nerve that
causes sudden, severe pain typically felt on one side of the jaw or
cheek) should receive treatment for each disorder.
What is the prognosis?
Many patients experience complete to near-complete relief of symptoms following
physician-supervised medical treatment. Paroxysmal hemicrania may
last indefinitely but has been known to go into remission or stop
spontaneously.
What research is being done?
The NINDS conducts a wide range of research on headache disorders. This research aims to
discover ways to better diagnose, treat, and, ultimately, prevent
these disorders.
Organizations
American Council for Headache
Education
19 Mantua Road
Mt. Royal, NJ
08061
achehq@talley.com
http://www.achenet.org/
Tel:
856-423-0258 800-255-ACHE (255-2243)
Fax:
856-423-0082
National Headache Foundation
820 N.
Orleans
Suite 217
Chicago, IL 60610-3132
info@headaches.org
http://www.headaches.org/
Tel:
773-388-6399 888-NHF-5552 (643-5552)
Fax:
773-525-7357
Prepared by:
Office of Communications and Public
Liaison
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, MD 20892
NINDS health-related material is provided for information purposes only and does not necessarily represent endorsement by or an official position of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke or any other Federal agency. Advice on the treatment or care of an individual patient should be obtained through consultation with a physician who has examined that patient or is familiar with that patient's medical history.
Last updated December 03, 2004
