Understanding Your Treatment Options for Severe, Persistent Headaches

Chances are you’ve had headaches — virtually everyone suffers from them from time to time and for a variety of reasons. Severe, persistent headaches are less common, and sometimes, they’re not easy to treat with simple over-the-counter medications. 

When you’re dealing with strong or frequent symptoms, a visit to Premier Pain Consultants can provide you with new treatment options that help you return to pain-free living. Dr. Dmitriy Buyanov and our team excel in providing leading-edge therapies for headache pain conditions that shut down your day. 

Types of headaches

There are more than 150 types of headaches divided into two groups. Primary headaches are symptomatic conditions that exist on their own, while secondary headaches are symptoms of an identifiable cause. 

A migraine headache is usually a primary, its condition, while a stress headache occurs because of emotional conditions you experience. 

Severe and persistent headaches

Simple and occasional headaches come and go without disturbing too much of your life. They might be distracting when the pain is active, but they pass fairly quickly. Recurrence is infrequent, and you probably accept them as an occasional bother. These are often easy to deal with yourself. 

Severe headaches can take over your thoughts and concentration, with heavy pain symptoms that make it difficult to focus. 

Persistent headaches can be mild or severe, but they’re notable for their frequent appearance. A single incident might be liveable, but the frequency of persistent headaches may wear you down in short order. 

Treatment options for severe, persistent headaches

Determining the type of headache you have is often key to receiving effective treatment. Occasional tension-based headaches respond well to over-the-counter pain relievers. Severe and/or persistent headaches typically require other medications and strategies.

Migraine headaches

Migraines can produce moderate to severe pain, and they’re often brought on by conditions known as triggers. These are also a headache disorder that may be preventable through the use of certain medications. 

Treating migraines may require prescription drugs as well as physical actions like hot and cold compresses or resting in a dark and quiet place.

Cluster headaches

While rare, cluster headaches tend to produce severe pain with groups of attacks occurring in clusters, then the condition disappears for months or years before recurrence. 

Like migraines, cluster headaches may be prevented with the use of medications, while attacks can be treated with prescription drugs. 

Hemicrania continua headaches

Affecting one side of your head, hemicrania continua usually produces moderate pain, but it lasts continuously for three months or longer. Related conditions could cause pain that’s more severe and with frequent attacks. 

A nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) called indomethacin can quickly relieve the pain symptoms from hemicrania continua. 

The severe and persistent headaches that you experience could have unique elements, and sometimes the causes are unknown. When it’s appropriate, we turn to more sophisticated headache treatments. 

Nerve block therapy consists of small injections of common numbing medications like lidocaine. We inject it at the base of the skull. Pain relief is fast and can last up to months for some patients. 

Ketamine infusion therapy uses low doses of this medication that’s typically used as an anesthetic. Delivered directly to your bloodstream intravenously, ketamine infusions also provide long-lasting, fast relief. 

Contact us at Premier Pain Consultants in San Antonio, Texas, by phone or online to discover the solution to your severe, persistent headaches today.