Headache and Migraine

Abstract

Head pain is a very common symptom. It may be unilateral, bilateral, occipital, vertical, frontal, parietal, or facial, each with a widely varying intensity. Its severity is commonly affected by bright light, noise, anxiety, or depression. It may be initiated by trauma to the head or neck, primary or secondary tumours of the brain, feverish illnesses, glaucoma, frontal sinusitis, maxillary antritis, or dental sepsis. Of course, musculoskeletal medicine has no place in the management of any of these conditions, other than a small proportion of the traumatic ones. Other than dental therapy or antibiotics, where appropriate, by far the commonest treatments on offer are the wide variety of analgesics, allopathic or homeopathic, available with or without prescription. At times headache is used to attract attention or to avoid unwanted activities, which demands a quite different approach (21). On the other hand, although not widely enough appreciated, headache commonly arises in the cervical spine.