nerve block for migraines

Why did the nerve block from my neurologist make things worse?

A frequent question I get asked involves nerve injections that make things worse rather than better.  Many times nerves blocks work just as they are supposed to but when they don’t, patients are often left trying to figure out why???   So what happens when nerve blocks make the pain worse? Remember that nerve blocks…

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Kinsey Discusses Her Migraine Surgery

Dr. Lowenstein: We are here. Well, why don’t you guys introduce yourselves? Kinsey: I’m Kinsey. Jill: I’m Jill. Dr. Lowenstein: And Jill is Kinsey’s … Jill: Mom. Dr. Lowenstein: Mom. So Kinsey, tell me about how, what your life was two years ago, three years ago, five years ago, et cetera. Kinsey: So I started…

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What’s in a name?

The term “migraine surgery” was coined as a simplified way for the public to understand that there is a surgical procedure to improve migraine headache symptoms.  In fact, the more appropriate name for this procedure is “nerve decompression surgery for the relief of headache and migraine symptoms.”  That’s a bit too wordy, but unfortunately, the…

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The importance of medication overuse headaches

I had a discussion with a patient recently who was interested in finding relief from her headaches, and as usual, sent me a list of her medications along with her long history of migraines. In reviewing her medical history, I had to do a double-take… she listed Excedrin as her primary medication, and she takes…

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dr adam lowenstein

Our Migraine Surgery Guidelines

There seem to be quite a number of questions online about instructions and expectations before and after surgery.  With that in mind, I thought I would share our “guidelines” for migraine surgery.  Please call our Center at 805-969-9004 with any questions you might have….. Guidelines for Headache Surgery Before your surgery • Maintaining a well…

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dr jason prystowsky

Headache 360 Podcast: Dr. Lowenstein and Dr. Prystowsky

Dr. Lowenstein: Hi. Welcome back to the Headache 360 Podcast. I’m your host, Dr. Adam Lowenstein, and I’ve got a amazing guest today. As I think many of you know, I’m a migraine surgeon. I do peripheral nerve decompression for migraines, and a lot of my patients have spent time in emergency rooms, and so…

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amy killian

Headache 360 Podcast: Dr. Lowenstein and Amy Kilian

Dr. Lowenstein: Hi, and welcome to the Headache 360 Podcast. I’m your host, Dr. Adam Lowenstein. Again, what we’re doing here is trying to take a 360 degree view of headache and migraine pain. As such, some of you will know that I am a migraine and headache surgeon. I do nerve decompression, but people…

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Dr Andrew Germanovich

Headache 360 Podcast: Dr. Lowenstein and Dr. Germanovich

Introduction: Welcome to the Headache 360 podcast, a place to listen and learn about the diagnosis and treatment of chronic headache and migraine pain because information can be the best medicine. Dr. Lowenstein: Hello and welcome to the Headache 360 podcast. I am your host Dr. Adam Lowenstein. I am a board certified plastic surgeon…

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Outpatient surgery for headache and migraine

It seems there is often much misunderstanding surrounding the terminology pertaining to headaches.  While “migraine headache” is indeed a specific diagnosis, there are many subtypes of migraines with terminology that can get confusing.  Additionally,  many headache sufferers have not yet seen a neurologist to get a migraine diagnosis, and others have diagnoses such as “chronic…

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Just an inspirational story

A lot of headache patients deal with pain and difficulty on a day to day basis.  On occasion I think it’s important to reflect on the good and the inspirational to get our mind right and realize that no matter how hard life may seem, there are fantastic stories that can be uplifting.  So… periodically you…

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What Sets Us Apart?

Why do patients from Los Angeles or Las Vegas travel to visit the Migraine Surgery Specialty Center for Migraine Relief? Dr. Lowenstein’s interest in migraine surgery stems from personal experience. From a very young age, Dr. Lowenstein has personally experienced the pain of chronic migraines, and understands like few other doctors do what a migraine…

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Dr. Lowenstein featured on “The Beauty and the Surgeon”

I recently had the honor of being asked to do a podcast with well known Board Certified plastic surgeon Dr. Jason Martin. Dr. Martin has a podcast called Beauty and the Surgeon which discusses all aspects of plastic and reconstructive surgery. I’ve known Dr. Martin for quite some time, dating back to when I was…

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migraine surgery denver colorado

Bringing Migraine Surgery to Denver Colorado

I”m very excited about our newest venture, which will involve bringing our successes in providing migraine relief to Denver Colorado.  This will provide a more central access point to so many migraine sufferers in the central part of the United States, including Arizona, Kansas, Wyoming, and Utah. I was fortunate enough to live and practice…

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Migraines and Hopelessness

A young lady was in my office recently, and like so many patients with pain from migraine headaches and/or occipital neuralgia, she had been too many many doctors before me.  We discussed the possibility of doing Targeted Injection Mapping, and she became very emotional.  She had been through so much over the past three years…

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Occipital Neuralgia vs. Migraine Headache

Today on Facebook I got a great question that I think is important….  “Are ON flares also called migraines?” In fact the word “migraine” has a broad meaning, including many different kinds of severe headaches with different causes.  Some migraines are caused by issues in or near the brain, such as dilated blood vessels or…

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How do you get rid of a migraine?

Migraine headaches can be unpredictable and difficult to manage. For those of us who are familiar with migraines, this is an understatement. Established migraine headache patients can discuss at incredible length the various things that they have tried to get rid of a migraine, and the difficult thing is that there are so so so…

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Looking for suggestions… How do we get the word out?

Yesterday I saw yet another migraine headache patient who was a week out from her migraine surgery, and yet again this patient was thrilled with the migraine relief.  She told me she felt that the migraine surgery changed her life.  She was all smiles in the followup appointment, as opposed to completely dreary when I…

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What to do with a normal MRI? BE HAPPY!

On social media, I’m seeing a lot of panic on multiple group sites in patients who have a normal MRI results in the face of pain symptoms.  It is important to remember that many patients with Migraine and most patients with Occipital Neuralgia have NORMAL MRI STUDIES.  This should be taken as good news, since…

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Air Quality, Smoke, and Migraine Headaches

Recently I’ve been posting “Triggers of the week” on Instagram, discussing different triggers that cause patients to have migraine headaches.  There has been a lot of responses to these posts, with patients chiming in that “even if foods are cooked with wine. Within minutes my head reacts,” or “BRIGHT lights – flashing or not flashing…

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Not all “nerve blocks” for migraine headache pain are the same

During the course of a great telephone conversation with a migraine headache patient from San Diego last week, it once again became evident to me that there is a misunderstanding of the differences in nerve blocks and Botox injections done by surgeons vs other medical professionals when it comes to the treatment of Migraine Headaches and…

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