Talking With a Practitioner About Your Headaches
If you experience significant headaches
that interfere with your work, family or
leisure activities, don’t go it alone. Most
recurring headaches may not be curable,
but with treatment, they can be
controlled to reduce their frequency,
severity and impact on daily life. To
maximize your chances of getting better,
you can take many steps before,
during and after you meet with a
practitioner.
To start the process, schedule an office visit specifically to talk about your headache condition. Your preparation for the evaluation should involve these four measures:
Headache history. First, take time to organize the details of your headache history. Maintain a headache diary for at least one month to track the frequency of your headaches, their intensity and whether they interfere with daily activities. Note whether they fall into a specific pattern.
Answers at the ready. Second, prepare answers to the following questions that the practitioner will likely ask about your headaches. If he or she doesn’t bring these issues up, raise them yourself:
- Timing: When did the headaches start? How often do they occur? How long do they last?
- Impact: How disabling are they? What do they prevent you from doing?
- Warning signs: Do you have any signals that your headaches will occur soon, such as visual zigzags or dark spots in your vision?
- Associated symptoms: Do you experience nausea, vomiting, or sensitivity to light, sound or odor with your headaches?
- Family history: Do any of your family members get similar headaches?
- Past efforts: Have you ever been evaluated or treated for your headaches? What worked? What didn’t?
- Previous tests: Have you ever had any medical tests related to your headaches? When were they done? What were the results?
- Medications: What medications do you use or have you used for headache and other conditions? What worked? What didn’t? What were the dosages, and how long did you take each?
A useful quiz. Third, consider taking a
headache disability quiz. You can find
the Migraine Disability Assessment
(MIDAS) test on the American Council
for Headache Education (ACHE)
Website at 
www.achenet.org/resources/midas.php. You can also complete
the Headache Impact Test (HIT 6) at
www.headachetest.com. This information,
along with your answers to the
eight questions at left, will help give
your practitioner a clearer idea of the
type of headache you have and how
much it affects your daily activities.
Research. Finally, do some background
reading on headaches. There
is information on the ACHE Website
at www.achenet.org. You can also find
books on headaches at your local
library or bookstore.
