Treatment for this ailment is classified into preventative and those that address headaches and other symptoms after they occur.
Because the specific mechanism of cluster headache is unknown, and because the illness is uncommon or sometimes misdiagnosed with migraine, there is no single gold-standard treatment. There are various lifestyle, over-the-counter, prescription medicine, and even surgical treatments available for this problem. If you have this disease, you may need to develop a specific treatment plan with the assistance of your neurologist and interventional pain specialist.
Lifestyle and Home Remedies
The most crucial thing regarding illnesses like cluster headaches is that one person's work may not work for another. Yet, there is much you can do to limit the occurrence of an attack or to lessen its severity:
Breathing exercises: One of the first-line clinical therapies for cluster headache is the use of oxygen, which has been proven to ease the severity of an attack. With this in mind, some patients have discovered that deep breathing exercises might help them manage their symptoms. This method also contains the added advantage of reducing stress.
Sleep pattern: A growing body of evidence indicates that maintaining a consistent sleep schedule can help prevent the occurrence of cluster headaches. This helps regulate the body's circadian cycles, which can assist in alleviating the start of attacks.
Regular exercise: The benefits of exercise cannot be overstated, and many people have found it useful for cluster headaches, either directly or indirectly. Even moderate physical activity daily has been demonstrated to benefit sleep cycles, blood circulation to the brain, and stress levels.
Yoga: Because yoga combines breathing methods with stretching, it reduces persistent headaches such as cluster headaches. Typically, patients should aim for five sessions of roughly 60 minutes each week. However, beginners may prefer to start with a more moderate regimen before progressing.
Avoiding tobacco: One of the many harmful health impacts of smoking cigarettes or using other tobacco products is increased chronic headaches. If you suffer from cluster headaches, it is worthwhile to consider quitting smoking.
Avoiding alcohol: Any alcohol is a proven cause of a cluster attack. Cluster headache sufferers may find it beneficial to abstain, especially during difficult times.
OTC (Over-the-Counter) Therapies
Most over-the-counter pain relievers, such as ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and aspirin, are rarely effective in reducing the extreme discomfort of cluster headaches. While they have some efficacy and are worth a shot, they are rarely up to the task of dealing with the severity of this ailment. Furthermore, using certain medications for more extended periods can result in medication overuse headache (MOH), a condition in which pain becomes worthless when medications are taken.
Alternative and Complementary Medicine
Herbal and non-western methods to cluster headaches are mainly untested and are rarely recognized by the medical community. Nonetheless, many patients have found that some of these approaches are highly successful. Most often, 10-milligram doses of melatonin are thought to benefit, especially when taken before sleeping at night. Furthermore, some evidence shows that administering capsaicin intranasally can be an acute therapy.
Treatment with pure oxygen: The first-line strategy to cluster headache in the hospital, pure oxygen delivery is recognized to be a fast-acting acute method.
This is usually administered for 15 minutes through a nasal cannula or face mask. The main disadvantage of this method, which has no side effects, is its relative inaccessibility; patients need to keep specialist oxygen tanks outside of the clinic.
Nerve block: This treatment entails injecting a fluid containing an anesthetic (to numb the nerves) and a corticosteroid near the occipital nerves. These nerve clusters go from the top of the spine (at the back of the head) into the scalp, and headache pain is relieved when their communication is interrupted. This method, which is usually reserved for more severe chronic cluster instances, gives temporary respite while longer-acting medications take effect.
Cluster headaches are excruciating to bear. Therefore you need the best neurologist and interventional pain specialist for the best treatment. Consider only Dr. Gautam Arora when searching for the top neurologist and interventional pain specialist. He meets all the requirements you expect from a top neurologist. You can contact him via:
Dr. Gautam Arora MBBS MD DM
NEUROLOGY AND PAIN MANAGEMENT CLINIC NPMC
Address: E 164 /1 KAMLA NAGAR DELHI NORTH 110007
Email: info@neuroandpain.clinic
Phone: 8810340685
