Up to 15% of the population has frequent, severe headaches. Many suffer in silence because of misconceptions and poor treatment by those who do not understand. Dr. Nelson has chronic migraine with daily headaches, and his personal experience and understanding of the condition influences his practice and understanding of your problems.
Basics of your visit:
- Please fill out paperwork that is essential to Dr. Nelson's evaluation
- Dr. Nelson will discuss your medical and headache history with you
- Dr. Nelson will perform a physical examination
- Dr. Nelson will discuss your diagnosis, treatment and begin educating you about your illness
- Information will be given to you to further your education regarding your diagnosis.
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Please fill this out if you are preparing to see Dr. Nelson for a headache complaint: NLGH Headache Questionnaire
Headaches & Exercise: What’s the Connection?
(April 2, 2008, Dr. Jeffrey Nelson)
As a physician, the relationship between headaches and exercise is one of the most common issues I face. Did you know that migraines and other types of headaches affect over 28 million Americans? Eighteen percent of pre-menopausal woman and 10% of men will have several migraine attacks during their lifetime. After menopause, a woman’s headache frequency rates become similar to a man’s.
Exercise can indeed be a trigger for migraine. In a recent study, 22% of the respondents claimed that exercise led to a migraine attack. This may scare you away from the treadmill, but let’s first take a deeper look. Long-term migraine studies show that patients who exercise regularly at least 3 days per week have remarkably fewer migraine attacks over time. Many studies show tension-type headaches can be prevented by routine exercise. The most miserable headache patients have chronic migraine. These patients have at least 15 headache-days per month and those headaches are often associated with nausea and sensitivity to light. Typically, these patients had regular and less frequent migraine patterns some months or years prior. A recent study showed conclusively that patients who regularly exercised had a higher likelihood reverting back to their previous, less severe, headache pattern.
As a person with migraines, I have personal experience with it as well. Exercise helps me and it helps my patients. Aerobic exercise is best and morning exercise seems to be a little better than in the evening, but any regular exercise will help. In an era of prescription drugs and crazy remedies for every health problem, a regular fitness routine could keep you out of the doctor’s office.
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