WNBC reported yesterday about a nasal surgery that may help headache sufferers. But don’t get excited about a new treatment yet. It’s not new information, just the same information presented in a different way. The journal article appeared in the June issue of Cephalalgia and was widely reported in July.
Here’s the gist of the study. People who have places inside their nasal passages or sinuses that touch each other may have headaches triggered or caused by those contact areas. In a study of 21 patients, 18 who had surgery to correct the contact areas say that their headaches improved by 25% or more after the operation.
In the study, a participant only qualified for the surgery if his or her headache was relieved when the contact point was numbed with local anesthesia. Researchers said that this was a good predictor of whether the surgery would help the patient. I had the surgery for headache in March 2000 with no success, but the doctor did not test the area beforehand.
After six long years of daily pain and failing every preventative ever offered, my daughter is finally getting relief. In January, he PCP finally noted a correlation between a worsening of her pain (read ER visits) and subsequent treatment for sinus infections. The dr. ordered a CT scan and found a severe bone spur off of a deviated septum. This was hitting a turbinate on the opposite side creating a contact point. She had the corrective surgery 4 weeks ago and what a difference. Right now she is hanging out with friends and feeling great. She still has the hassle of tapering off the pain meds and the discomfort that has caused, but nothing like the pain she was experiencing before. Get a CT and make sure you don’t have this. It could change your life!