Headaches

Dr. Spierings wrote this book about headaches primarily for those afflicted by them to help them understand their headaches and find ways to relieve them. However, his in-depth exploration of the subject and his extensive experience, covering almost half a century of researching and treating headaches, migraine in particular, also make the book informative for those broadly interested in the topic, including physicians and other health care practitioners.

Headaches, including the most common cause of intense headaches, migraine, we undervalue as a personal, social, and medical problem; due to the latter, we undertreat them. This is of paramount importance and is consequential, especially because it causes tremendous, unnecessary suffering. This, in turn, is detrimental to health, mental and physical, and amplifies the impact of headaches on a personal and social level.

The book describes in detail what headaches can be due to, from a general medical and neurological perspective, with the medical causes often forgotten or ignored, and which tests can shed light on the various causes. It proceeds to migraine as the most common reason we experience intense headaches and describes this condition in detail, including a historical oversight of our understanding of the mechanisms underlying migraine headaches and of the symptoms associated with them.

The book deals extensively with treatment, which is after all what headache sufferers--and often their family and friends for them--are foremost looking for. It describes the treatment in detail, making it possible to apply it or have it applied, because it may require working with a physician or other health care practitioner.

The book concludes with chapters on headache and pregnancy; cluster headache, a disabling disorder like migraine and related to it; other rare headache conditions; headaches from concussion; and face pain, similar to headaches undervalued and undertreated.