Melbourne Headache Centre in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | Physical therapist

Melbourne Headache Centre

Locality: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Phone: +61 3 8648 6487

Address: Level 13, 200 Queen Street 3000 Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Website: http://www.melbourneheadachecentre.com.au

Likes: 1722

Add/Update information

Reviews

Tags

• Medical and health
• Medical centre
• Physical therapist

24.01.2022 I only wish this was in fact 'Post-pandemic' as Hayley wrote this two weeks ago when things looked a little better than they do right now! We will get back on top of this if we keep looking out for one another and stay safe. Our thoughts are with those who have tested positive and their families and close contacts - and also those who are experiencing lockdown in their suburb. Stay strong. Stay safe.... https://healthtimes.com.au//postpandemic-headache-ke/5143/

22.01.2022 Facemasks become mandatory in Melbourne from midnight on 22nd July, and the latest research from 'Headache' provides some insights into the impact PPE (Personal Protective Equipment - facemasks, goggles, gown, gloves) can have on headaches - the key message being to not use PPE as an excuse to be out more than is essential as prolonged use might make your headaches worse. We fully support this measure and have been using masks and requiring our clients to wear a mask in clin...ic for some time. The key message is we need to suppress COVID-19 and this is a prudent measure to support that effort. We also need to be mindful of the impact that changes to the way we normally function can have on our health, and be mindful and pro-active to avoid undue problems. Firstly as we are back in lockdown and a majority of us working remotely, we need to be conscious of setting up a good ergonomic station whether its for us or our children, to make sure we minimise the loading on our spine. This article however highlights the impact PPE, and in particular, facemasks are having on headaches. This cross-sectional study was conducted on primary health care workers (nurses, doctors, paramedics) and found that 81% or respondents developed 'de novo' or new headaches. The biggest risk factor was a history of headaches and a combined usage during the day of PPE for more than 4 hours. In addition, 30% of respondents had pre-existing migraine ir TTH and 91% of them agreed or strongly agreed that increased PPE usage had affected the control of their background headaches, which affected their level of work performance. their headaches What does this mean in practical terms? For those of you working from home, unless required to do so for self isolation measures, don't wear your mask constantly. Wear it when you go out, and don't be outside (with your PPE) for more than 4 hours per day. This is probably unlikely for most. The bigger risk are those still going into a workplace where they may be required to wear a mask constantly or repeatedly through the day. Obviously the need to protect yourself from the virus overrides the need to manage headaches, and a lot of caution needs to be exercised when taking PPE on and off repeatedly, so this is by no means a simple solution, but at the very least have an awareness that more than 4-hours in a day may increase the likelihood of developing headaches or your background headaches getting worse. Given that headache is one of the most common symptoms of COVID-19 this may cause undue stress and anxiety and expose you to testing clinics when you may not otherwise need to go. While it requires care and attention to detail, planning for times in the day when social distancing can be maintained, and PPE not required is going to be an important part of our 'new normal' moving forwards. https://headachejournal.onlinelibrary.wiley.com//head.13811

20.01.2022 There are some wonderfully informative talks at the Watson Headache Institute International Symposium - 'Turning Primary Headache Upside Down' 2020. One of those talks was delivered by Associate Professor Roger Kerry, who is a leading expert from the United Kingdom into Cervical Arterial Dysfunction, and especially the relationship to manual therapy and manipulation. At the Melbourne Headache Centre as manual therapists we do not use manipulation, not because of the perceiv...ed danger to the cervical arteries, but because multiple systematic reviews indicate it is clearly ineffective for recurrent headache presentations. The problem here is that up to 50% of dissections occur spontaneously, at a rate (per 100,000 population) of around 2.3-3 for the Internal Carotid Artery and 1-1.5 for the Vertebrobasilar Artery. That is no history of trauma. Normal movement of the head on the neck was enough to cause the dissection. In these cases there are reasons leading to weakening of the arterial wall to such an extent that coughing, sneezing, yoga, golf, visiting the dentist, hairdresser and yes......having a massage or cervical manipulation can cause a dissection. The best way to study the risk associated with an adverse event and treatment is a case-control study. One such study done recently in Canada examined the outcomes of people presenting to manual therapists and their primary care physicians or GP's. Both reported the the same (exceedingly low) rate of arterial dissections, but this rate increased slightly and equally for both when corrected for neck pain and headache. In other words, neck pain and headache is one of the most common early signs of arterial dissection as the authors explain: "younger patients with an impending carotid artery stroke could be seeking care for dissection-related pain in the head and neck prior to developing stroke. Under this scenario, any care provided by manual therapists or primary care physicians is coincidental to the stroke and not on the causal pathway" This talk and the clinical picture painted within it is a must watch for manual therapist treating the upper cervical spine. Despite not using cervical manipulation we are still potentially at risk of treating someone who is having a spontaneous dissection and often we will see them early in their symptom development. It is critical that we recognise the signs and symptoms as it presents a wonderful opportunity for us to be able to refer on and have appropriate intervention potentially avoid a catastrophic outcome.

17.01.2022 What does Folic Acid have to do with Migraine? https://lttr.ai/TeOJ #MigraineAura #Headache #FolicAcid

08.01.2022 A big thank you to Dr Dean Watson for inviting me to present at the #WHIIS2020ONLINE Symposium - Turning Primary Headache upside down. I look forward to sharing my knowledge and experience with treating nausea and vomiting disorders from a #manualtherapy point of view. Very few manual therapists would have heard of #cyclicvomitingsyndrome and fewer would have considered being able to treat this debilitating condition. #gastroenterology #neurology #WatsonHeadache #physiotherapy #headacheresearch #CVS https://www.linkedin.com//activity-6668988677575847936-6HRu