A lot of headache patients deal with pain and difficulty on a day to day basis. On occasion I think it’s important to reflect on the good and the inspirational to get our mind right and realize that no matter how hard life may seem, there are fantastic stories that can be uplifting. So… periodically you…
Read Full ArticleOn December 28th basketball superstar Dwayne Wade had to come out of the Chicago Bulls basketball game because of a migraine headache. This video is really worth watching, as Wade’s description of what it’s like to have “different levels of migraines” is a fantastic insight into the day to day life of someone who suffers…
Read Full ArticleIn the course of my aesthetic plastic surgery practice, many patients are of course interested and concerned about where the incisions will be placed for their surgery. With migraine headache and neuralgia patients, however, there is more interest surrounding pain relief than incision sites. That said, I have seen several revisions of migraine surgery necessary from…
Read Full ArticleThis article by the LA times investigates the efforts of the Sackler family (the owners of Purdue Pharma and makers of Oxycontin,) to open up world markets to the drug that has been one of the principal keystones in America’s opioid crisis. “In Brazil, China and elsewhere, the companies are running training seminars where doctors are…
Read Full ArticleWith traffic like this it’s no wonder so many patients from Los Angeles suffer from migraine headaches. While several medical centers in and around the Los Angeles area treat patients with migraine headaches and occipital neuralgia, Dr. Lowenstein dedicates a significant part of his practice to the surgical treatment of these headaches and associated symptoms.…
Read Full ArticleDizziness is often a symptom of migraines and occipital neuralgia, and can be seen both with and without associated pain. Because balance and dizziness are managed by a region of the inner ear called the vestibule, migraines that manifest in dizziness alone are termed “vestibular migraines”. Similar to “ocular migraines”, these episodes can manifest as…
Read Full ArticleBecause of the relatively new ability for surgeons such as myself to impact migraine headaches and occipital neuralgia with outpatient surgery, we often get the question of whether nerve decompression for headache surgery is “experimental surgery.” Let me assure you that this is not the case. While scientific descriptions of success rates can be found…
Read Full ArticleMy mother tells a story about me when I was 9 and had a headache so bad I would not stop crying and would not leave my room. I don’t remember that, but I know that I have had severe headaches as long as I can remember. As a child, I took so much aspirin…
Read Full ArticleThoroughness in surgical technique can make the difference in a successful nerve decompression operation. (Why the tree photo? Read on….) Earlier this week we saw a woman with over 20 years of headache pain from occipital neuralgia who had been operated on previously by another surgeon. She reports that her surgery was unsuccessful. The surgeon…
Read Full ArticleJohn Oliver does a great piece on the overuse of opioid pain killers- an epidemic that is causing incredible morbidity and mortality in the United States. Patients with chronic headaches are often prescribed these pain killers when nothing else works, and opioid addiction can become a major problem for headache patients. The potential for surgery…
Read Full Article