Headaches

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Anchor lead: Headaches are very common and some may actually be cured, Elizabeth Tracey reports

Half to three-quarters of all adults in the world will report a headache at least once in the last year, global data indicate, and for some of those people the condition is chronic. Sashank Reddy, a craniofacial surgeon at Johns Hopkins who treats some headaches surgically, describes the scope of the problem.

Reddy: Many people will get occasional headaches but the more problematic kind, the headache disorders, like migraine headaches or chronic headaches, are surprisingly common. For patients who suffer from them they can be a source of significant disability, missed work and other sorts of problems. The quarterback of an effective headache management strategy is always a neurologist. There are within neurology specialists in headache medicine. As our understanding of various types of headaches has increased over time there are more and more medical and nonmedical options for dealing with those headaches.  :33

Reddy says a visit to a primary care physician is your first step if you have chronic or debilitating headaches. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.