brain and pain?

Science and Technology
1

Had a fun discussion today that raised an interesting question.
I figured someone around here might know about that.
If the brain doesn’t have any nerves, making surgery to awake patients possible.
What causes head aches?
Where do headaches come from?
perhaps that should say
Where are they located?

2
Had a fun discussion today that raised an interesting question. I figured someone around here might know about that. If the brain doesn't have any nerves, making surgery to awake patients possible. What causes head aches? Where do headaches come from? perhaps that should say Where are they located?
In the nerves surrounding the brain and in the eyes, ears, sinuses, mouth and throat, and the muscles in the neck. Lois
3
In a citizen challenge.pm post. (meant to be fun too)
Don't know what that means, but love your signature
Evolution is not an issue. Evolution is the creation story.
Lois, yeah that makes sense, time for a good data based animation, that would be interesting to watch.
4
In a citizen challenge.pm post. (meant to be fun too)
Don't know what that means, but love your signature
Evolution is not an issue. Evolution is the creation story.
Lois, yeah that makes sense, time for a good data based animation, that would be interesting to watch. I had regular migraines for years. It felt as if the pain went in a straight line from my left eye to the back of my head near the base on the left. It was always in the same place. Of course, it only seemed that way. It was actually from nerves around my eye and under my scalp. The migraines were often triggered by lights. Nothing helped. They dissipated when I reached a certain age. Lois
5
I had regular migraines for years. It felt as if the pain went in a straight line from my left eye to the back of my head near the base on the left. It was always in the same place. Of course, it only seemed that way. It was actually from nerves around my eye and under my scalp. The migraines were often triggered by lights. Nothing helped. They dissipated when I reached a certain age. Lois
Migraines, those sound like they really suck. So, would it be fair to think that headaches don't reflect what's going on within the brain? Have they figured out what migraines are yet?
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I had regular migraines for years. It felt as if the pain went in a straight line from my left eye to the back of my head near the base on the left. It was always in the same place. Of course, it only seemed that way. It was actually from nerves around my eye and under my scalp. The migraines were often triggered by lights. Nothing helped. They dissipated when I reached a certain age. Lois
Migraines, those sound like they really suck. So, would it be fair to think that headaches don't reflect what's going on within the brain? Have they figured out what migraines are yet?I have two friends who get migraines. They are completely out of commission with vomiting and in extreme pain. I have a lot of sympathy for migraine sufferers. As far as I know there is no cure or even clear-cut cause of them. It's amazing that we don't know.
7
I had regular migraines for years. It felt as if the pain went in a straight line from my left eye to the back of my head near the base on the left. It was always in the same place. Of course, it only seemed that way. It was actually from nerves around my eye and under my scalp. The migraines were often triggered by lights. Nothing helped. They dissipated when I reached a certain age. Lois
Migraines, those sound like they really suck. So, would it be fair to think that headaches don't reflect what's going on within the brain? Have they figured out what migraines are yet?I have two friends who get migraines. They are completely out of commission with vomiting and in extreme pain. I have a lot of sympathy for migraine sufferers. As far as I know there is no cure or even clear-cut cause of them. It's amazing that we don't know. We don't know the whole story but we are not entirely in the dark about the causes and cures for migraines. What distinguishes migraines from other headaches is not the degree of pain as is often misrepresented. Although migraines are often quite painful, some migraines are relatively mild while other non-migraine headaches can be very severe. What separates migraines from other types of headaches is their symptom pattern and the underlying cause. Migraines are a type of headache known as vascular headaches. They often times occur in clusters happening daily for a week or two and then going away for weeks or months at a time. Unlike sinus or tension headaches, migraines are more frequently associated with neurologic symptoms such as visual disturbances, nausea, vomiting, numbness tingling etc. The diagnosis is entirely clinical meaning that it is made based on the patients description of the pain pattern and the physical exam. MRI's, CT's and other tests can be used to rule out other causes like a brain tumor but they do not have a role in diagnosing migraines. What we mean when we say that migraines are vascular headaches is that these headaches are caused by problems related to the blood vessels that feed the brain and the head. We know this because most of the medicines that work best on migraines have direct effects on the blood vessels. these medicines include prodcuts like caffeine and ergotamines but more recently medications of a class commonly referred to as "triptans" such as sumatriptan(Imitrex), rizatriptan(Maxalt) and many others. These medicines cause constriction of the blood vessels and usually result in very rapid resolution of migraine pain in most individuals without the need for narcotics or other pain relieving medications. Exactly how pain arises from dilated blood vessels and why it is relieved when medications like Imitrex constrict those vessels is unknown currently and an area that is still under investigation.
8
I had regular migraines for years. It felt as if the pain went in a straight line from my left eye to the back of my head near the base on the left. It was always in the same place. Of course, it only seemed that way. It was actually from nerves around my eye and under my scalp. The migraines were often triggered by lights. Nothing helped. They dissipated when I reached a certain age. Lois
Migraines, those sound like they really suck. So, would it be fair to think that headaches don't reflect what's going on within the brain? Have they figured out what migraines are yet?I have two friends who get migraines. They are completely out of commission with vomiting and in extreme pain. I have a lot of sympathy for migraine sufferers. As far as I know there is no cure or even clear-cut cause of them. It's amazing that we don't know. We don't know the whole story but we are not entirely in the Odark about the causes and cures for migraines. What distinguishes migraines from other headaches is not the degree of pain as is often misrepresented. Although migraines are often quite painful, some migraines are relatively mild while other non-migraine headaches can be very severe. What separates migraines from other types of headaches is their symptom pattern and the underlying cause. Migraines are a type of headache known as vascular headaches. They often times occur in clusters happening daily for a week or two and then going away for weeks or months at a time. Unlike sinus or tension headaches, migraines are more frequently associated with neurologic symptoms such as visual disturbances, nausea, vomiting, numbness tingling etc. The diagnosis is entirely clinical meaning that it is made based on the patients description of the pain pattern and the physical exam. MRI's, CT's and other tests can be used to rule out other causes like a brain tumor but they do not have a role in diagnosing migraines. What we mean when we say that migraines are vascular headaches is that these headaches are caused by problems related to the blood vessels that feed the brain and the head. We know this because most of the medicines that work best on migraines have direct effects on the blood vessels. these medicines include prodcuts like caffeine and ergotamines but more recently medications of a class commonly referred to as "triptans" such as sumatriptan(Imitrex), rizatriptan(Maxalt) and many others. These medicines cause constriction of the blood vessels and usually result in very rapid resolution of migraine pain in most individuals without the need for narcotics or other pain relieving medications. Exactly how pain arises from dilated blood vessels and why it is relieved when medications like Imitrex constrict those vessels is unknown currently and an area that is still under investigation. Yes, it's a complicated phenomenon, not well understood. In my case it was only pain and some visual synptoms, and none of the other symptoms. I can't take any opioids so I was left with aspirin, which was the only thing that had any effect. Caffiene helped too, especially when the migraine was easing up. I was never prescribed triptans. Maybe they would have helped. Oliver Sachs wrote a book about migraines. He apparently suffered from them himself. Lois
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Thanks macgyver, that was, dare I say, interesting.