Botox is being increasingly used for off-label treatments, particularly in the treatment of migraine headaches and occipital neuralgia like we do at Migraine Surgery Specialty Center. This is a nice little video from the Plastic Surgery Channel that discusses some off-label uses of Botox.But what does “off label” mean? When something like Botox is “approved” by…
Read Full ArticleWe are so fortunate to now have better medications and great surgical options for the treatment of migraine headaches. We have com a long way! This article talks about the surgeon Aulcasis in the 10th century who used to make incisions in the temples and put garlic inside them to cure his migraine patients. I’m…
Read Full ArticleJohn Oliver does a great piece on the overuse of opioid pain killers- an epidemic that is causing incredible morbidity and mortality in the United States. Patients with chronic headaches are often prescribed these pain killers when nothing else works, and opioid addiction can become a major problem for headache patients. The potential for surgery…
Read Full ArticleThoroughness in surgical technique can make the difference in a successful nerve decompression operation. (Why the tree photo? Read on….) Earlier this week we saw a woman with over 20 years of headache pain from occipital neuralgia who had been operated on previously by another surgeon. She reports that her surgery was unsuccessful. The surgeon…
Read Full ArticleMy mother tells a story about me when I was 9 and had a headache so bad I would not stop crying and would not leave my room. I don’t remember that, but I know that I have had severe headaches as long as I can remember. As a child, I took so much aspirin…
Read Full ArticleBecause of the relatively new ability for surgeons such as myself to impact migraine headaches and occipital neuralgia with outpatient surgery, we often get the question of whether nerve decompression for headache surgery is “experimental surgery.” Let me assure you that this is not the case. While scientific descriptions of success rates can be found…
Read Full ArticleDizziness is often a symptom of migraines and occipital neuralgia, and can be seen both with and without associated pain. Because balance and dizziness are managed by a region of the inner ear called the vestibule, migraines that manifest in dizziness alone are termed “vestibular migraines”. Similar to “ocular migraines”, these episodes can manifest as…
Read Full ArticleWith traffic like this it’s no wonder so many patients from Los Angeles suffer from migraine headaches. While several medical centers in and around the Los Angeles area treat patients with migraine headaches and occipital neuralgia, Dr. Lowenstein dedicates a significant part of his practice to the surgical treatment of these headaches and associated symptoms.…
Read Full ArticleThis article by the LA times investigates the efforts of the Sackler family (the owners of Purdue Pharma and makers of Oxycontin,) to open up world markets to the drug that has been one of the principal keystones in America’s opioid crisis. “In Brazil, China and elsewhere, the companies are running training seminars where doctors are…
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