SEPTEMBER IS PAIN AWARENESS MONTH

Today, September 1, 2014 is the start of Pain Awareness Month.  Most people are unaware that chronic pain is a diagnosis of it's own.  Doctors blame the pain on depression; however, in most cases it is pain that causes depression.

The most common type of chronic pain is the migraine.

From www.migraines.com

Migraine is a headache with pain that can last from 4 hours to 3 days.²

• Pain is usually moderately to severely intense, pulsating, and often occurring on 1 side of the head
• Telltale signs of migraine may be nausea and/or vomiting, and sensitivity to light and sound
• Changes in vision or hearing, called aura, may come just before or just as the migraine begins²

Migraine can be defined by how often headaches happen.

• One type of migraine occurs with fewer than 15 headache days per month, some of them being migraine. This is called episodic migraine
• The second type is when headaches occur 15 or more days per month with headache lasting 4 hours or longer for at least 3 months, some being migraine. This is calledChronic Migraine^2-4