A Modern Approach To The Treatment Of Headches In Today's World

Oddly enough, very few physicians were interested in the common tension headache until the late 19th century. The neurologists of the Victorian era believed that these headaches were the product of too much thinking, hysteria or hypochondria. It is during this time that we find some of the earliest versions of the view that headaches were the result of psychological rather than physical causes. Enforced rest, physical exertion and cold baths were all types of therapy offered for tension-type headaches. Drug treatments for headaches included liquid opium and Cannabis.. Many of the headache and migraine research studies done today are based on the actions of neuroreceptors in the brain, work that was pioneered by Paul Ehlich, for which he won a Nobel Prize in 1908. At the turn of the century, William Osler proposed the view that these headaches were due to "muscular rheumatism" of the head - this was the first time anyone had suggested that tension or abnormalities in the muscles might be involved. Osler was a strong proponent of the use of Cannabis for the treatment of headaches. He is also given credit for bringing acupuncture to the United States.

The first person to study headaches in the laboratory, Dr. Harold Wolffe, was a supporter of the vascular theroy of headache. Dr. Wolff provided the first real evidence that the blood vessels of the brain dilate (expand) during a migraine headache attack, in studies he performed in the 1940s. Wolff did a series of experiments showing that involuntary contraction of scalp and neck muscles did result in headaches. He created the term "muscle contraction headache" for these everyday, non-migraine headaches, which are known as tension headaches today.

The throbbing pain associated with migraines is attributed to the dilation of blood vessel, but what actually causes the dilation to begin with?Wolff realized that the brain itself must have some role in the development of a migraine attack, but there simply wasn't technology available to solve the problem. In recent years, technology has been developed that allows us to monitor the activity in the brain that takes place during a migraine episode. CT scans and MRI's allow us to identify pain centers in the brain. Many studies about the role serotonin plays in the cause of pain and blood vessel dilation and contraction have been done by the Pharmaceutical companies.

One of the most popular medications used today, sumatriptan (Imitrex) was developed as a result of this research. Unfortunately, no one has been able to figure out what exactly causes the blood vessel dilation to occur. Many of today's headache researchers are focusing on "tension-type" headaches that involve the contraction of the muscles of the head, face and neck. Neuromuscular treatment focuses on this particular aspect of headaches. Headache treatment has advanced more in the last 15 to 20 years than in all the previous years of medicine. The more we understand the process, the more improved our treatment has become, with far fewer side effects, such as a hole in the head.


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A distinctive approach to the treatment of Headaches using Neuromuscular dentistry. Botox is a temporary fix, Neuromuscular dentistry is a long term headache solution.