Rebound Headache
Rebound headaches occur when medication is taken too
frequently to relieve headache pain. Rebound headaches frequently occur daily
and can be very painful. A diagnosis of rebound headaches can be easy or
difficult, as the cause is very easy to identify but very difficult to
diagnose.
Overuse of painkillers can be confirmed simply by asking the patient if
his headaches assumed a new pattern or became more severe after taking
painkillers excessively (generally classified as more than 3 times per
week).
However, the only way to make a certain diagnosis of rebound headache is
to withdraw the patient from medication for anywhere up to 6 months. It
should be noted that withdrawal from medication will actually intensify
the headaches for the first few weeks. After this period, the headaches will
gradually recede.
Following treatment, many patients revert to their prior headache pattern.
A physician should be consulted before re-use of medications.
See Also:
Headache
Tension headache
Migraine
headache
Cluster headache
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the
Wikipedia article
"Rebound Headache"
and from Pain Busters Clinic
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