Curriculum
March 9, 2021

How to Choose a Headache Surgeon

One of the first things to assess is whether your surgeon has formal and specific training in peripheral nerve surgery. Since the operationS for chronic headaches/neuralgia potentially involve many nerves…
Amanda
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Curriculum
March 9, 2021

Migraine or Neuralgia?

People often confuse migraine symptoms with something called neuralgia. The former refers to an often disabling neurological condition characterized by severe and sometimes frequent headaches. The latter literally means “nerve…
Amanda
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Curriculum
March 9, 2021

Which Came First, the Muscle or the Nerve?

Just this past week, several patients have asked about the tight muscles in their necks and upper backs. They have all wondered at some point whether it’s the tight muscles…
Amanda
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Curriculum
February 25, 2021

What is Temporal Neuralgia?

As I have written previously, neur-algia simply means ‘nerve pain’.  The question always becomes, can you figure out which ‘neur’ (i.e., nerve) is causing the ‘algia’ (i.e., pain).  Secondly, if…
Amanda
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Curriculum
February 25, 2021

What is Peripheral Nerve Surgery?

There are a number of ways to characterize and define the nervous system. First of all, the primary cells that comprise the nervous system are called neurons.  Groups of neurons…
Amanda
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Curriculum
February 25, 2021

What is Frontal Neuralgia?

As before, neur-algia simply means ‘nerve pain’.  The question always becomes, can you figure out which ‘neur’ (i.e., nerve) is causing the ‘algia’ (i.e., pain).  Secondly, if you can figure…
Amanda
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Curriculum
February 17, 2021

If I’m a Candidate, How Is Surgery Performed & What Are the Outcomes?

Surgical intervention (whether decompression or neurectomy/muscle implantation) for chronic headaches is performed as an outpatient procedure at an accredited surgery center or in the outpatient department of the California Pacific…
Amanda
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Curriculum
February 17, 2021

How & Why Did I Get Occipital Neuralgia?

The title of this post represents the million dollar  question.  I have posted many times in the past about how ON can be caused by compression from spastic neck muscles,…
Amanda
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Curriculum
February 17, 2021

Is Permanent Relief From Chronic Headaches Possible? YES!

Migraine headaches have traditionally been thought to arise from within the central nervous system (i.e. the brain and/or spinal cord) and then produce symptoms elsewhere such as throbbing in the…
Amanda
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Curriculum
February 17, 2021

Whiplash & Occipital Neuralgia: What’s the Connection?

I am asked routinely about the relationship between whiplash and occipital neuralgia.  First of all, what is whiplash?  Simply put, it is a sudden jerking of the head, usually in…
Amanda
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Curriculum
February 17, 2021

Why Use Nerve Blocks?

Nerve blocks are very powerful tools in helping to determine whether or not a particular person is a good surgical candidate. Nerve blocks are simply injections of local anesthetic which…
Amanda
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Curriculum
February 17, 2021

Transforming Headache Care

Chronic headaches such as migraines remain a huge burden on the American healthcare system accounting for tens of billions of dollars in both direct and indirect costs annually.  What’s more,…
Amanda
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Curriculum
February 17, 2021

What is a Migraine?

Many people consider a migraine to be a really bad headache. The truth is it is a severe, neurologic condition. However, when perusing the medical literature, it becomes apparent that…
Amanda
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Curriculum
February 17, 2021

Neuroplasticity and Central Sensitization

In this post, we discuss two important terms, ‘neuroplasticity’ and ‘central sensitization’.  Neuroplasticity refers to the amazing ability of the brain to change and adapt in response to interactions of…
Amanda
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Curriculum
February 1, 2021

What are Nerve Blocks?

The term ‘nerve block’ refers specifically to an injection of local anesthetic that is aimed at inactivating a nerve.  These blocks typically work by chemically and temporarily disabling a nerve’s…
Amanda
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Curriculum
February 1, 2021

How Was This Concept Discovered & Where Are These Nerves Located?

Believe it or not, the idea of a peripheral nerve causing your headache dates back as far as 1000 A.D. when one of the founding fathers of surgery (Al-Zahrawi) first…
Amanda
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Curriculum
February 1, 2021

What is Neuroplasticity?

In this post, we discuss two important terms, ‘neuroplasticity’ and ‘central sensitization’. Neuroplasticity refers to the amazing ability of the brain to change and adapt in response to interactions of…
Amanda
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Curriculum
February 1, 2021

It’s the Fascia, Silly

The covering of muscles in humans is called fascia (pronounced fah-sha).  It consists of a very tough, fibrous layer of connective tissue that surrounds the muscle itself.  What does that…
Amanda
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Curriculum
March 8, 2020

Can Stress Make Occipital Neuralgia Worse?

This post will be a relatively short one, but this question is very important.  I have been queried about this phenomenon numerous times in the office and while lecturing to…
Amanda
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