Headaches and Migraines

In a perfect world, your body works like a symphony, with the brain conducting and your nerves and muscles following along. But anxiety, caffeine, too much exercise, sinus inflammation, sinus pressure, or even the wrong medicines can throw the conductor off, causing discord and cacophony.

Migraine headaches are different from other types of head pains and they require special care and understanding. Because you know your body and its rhythms best, starting a headache diary with times, places, and other details about your headaches can be a valuable data for your medical team. After we examine your family history and identify your triggers, we can build on that foundation with painless CT scans, X-rays, or MRIs to rule out any internal injuries that may be causing your headaches. Our goal is to help you to break the cycle of pain and prevent future episodes.

When there’s pain, you just want it to stop. But not all headaches are the same. We will work to define what’s going on inside your brain to have the best success at giving you more relief. The most common types of headaches include:

• Cluster headaches are throbbing pains that can come in waves and be very severe. These headaches feel like they’re centered behind one eye, which is sometimes red or drooping.
• Migraines are intense headaches that occur again and again, often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light and sound.
• Tension headaches are the most common and can cause mild to moderate pain on both sides of your head, resulting from lack of sleep, missed meals, neck strain, or stress.

New headache treatments are being introduced all the time. We're constantly keeping up with the latest science to find better methods of treating you and helping you find headache relief, always striving to return you to the life you love.

You want to shake off the pain and get back to what’s most important in your life — your family, friends, and all the things you love. At AdventHealth, we’re here to help make that possible. We provide both instant headache treatments to help ease pain now and preventive medications to block repeat occurrences. For migraines, some episodes can last for hours or days, yet these can often be stopped with anti-inflammatory medicine, pain-killing nasal sprays, and even inpatient therapies.

Stress management is also a big part of nurturing yourself. As part of our dedication to whole-person care and the principles of CREATION Life — Choice, Rest, Environment, Activity, Trust, Interpersonal Relationships, Outlook, and Nutrition — our network includes professionals in a range of fields. Your team may include counselors, dietitians, spiritual coaches, and other compassionate providers who help improve your health while easing your mind and lifting your spirit.

For your safety, we encourage you to visit one of our Emergency Rooms if your headache is sudden and severe, accompanied by neck pain, or if you have a fever, convulsions, become confused, or have lost consciousness. Headaches that occur after a blow to the head should also be treated immediately. These may be signals that you have a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and need urgent attention.

We’ve been a leader in neurology care since our Neuroscience Institute was established in 1998. We’re not just tackling today’s headaches, we’re helping pioneer treatments for tomorrow’s, too. We’re running alongside you in this race and look forward to joining you at the finish line, where headaches are a thing of the past.