I Have Had Headaches Starting At The Base Of My

Brief Answer:
Tension type headache vs. Cervicogenic Headache

Detailed Answer:
Good evening young lady.....I understand you've got some headaches that are emanating from the base of your neck and radiating upward. You say there is a sense of pressure in the ears and that your symptoms have been coming and going for about 6 weeks now.

Of course, I'd prefer to EXAMINE YOUR HEAD AND NECK to be sure of how things are going but to me these don't sound like migraine headaches since your symptoms would've been much more aggressive and in a different distribution. Instead this sounds like you've probably got some degenerative arthritic changes in your cervical spine and that these changes are likely activating nerves in the upper neck that do not like the pressure and probable inflammation one bit from the calcifications of the neck around them.

Now, as it turns out....you're not that far away from Parma Neurology...a veritable hop, skip, and a jump from where you're at down there close to what used to be Geauga Lake, Seaworld, and now I'm not sure what it is anymore! LOL.....


At any rate, you've got a couple choices for imaging studies....MY PREFERENCE as a neurologist would be to get an MRI of the cervical spine because I hate exposing people to a lot of radiation which is what you'll get if you got a CT scan of the neck...though that would be the quickest and least expensive type of scan. Also, an MRI is able to resolve more detail of the neck and especially the NERVES of the spinal cord that could be pinched thereby causing the upward radiation of pain.

I'm not entirely sure about the pressure in your ear unless you happen to be suffering as well from something on the order of EUSTACHIAN TUBE DYSFUNCTION (lack of equilibrium in air pressure between the middle ear and the throat)....It's what happens on an airplane when you climb in altitude. The Eustachian Tube is small connecting passage between the middle ear and the back of the throat that allows you to maintain equal air pressure between the small compartment of the middle ear and the outside.

Try doing some forceful swallows or chew gum a bit strongly and see if that helps BLOW OPEN up the ears at all. You could also have allergies such as Hay Fever or be reacting to Pollen, etc. and could be causing some swelling of the Eustachian tube, etc. If you get your doctor to look in your ears there may be something there to dig out in terms of impacted cerumen which could also cause a bit of a problem....or you could try some mineral oil in both ears to see if anything loosens up and comes washing out in the shower over the next days.

Back to the heaaches for a minute. If you end up having the DEGENERATIVE ARTHRITIC SPINAL COLUMN which is likely in my opinion then, I suggest considering some aquatherapy for the neck in addition to something such as TRACTION THERAPY, NECK STRETCHES, but I would NOT advise or recommend CHIROPRACTIC MANIPULATION of the neck.....NO...NO.....not a good idea at all....n'est ce pas? I can explain another time....just trust me on that one....

But first, see about getting the imaging study. As I said my dear....you're not that far away from Parma Neurology if you'd like to come and hello to me in my office and have me take both a look see as to what's going on as well as set you up to get the study done of the cervical spine? You can call us at PARMA NEUROLOGY at 440.842.3816 or you can just have your primary care doctor write you for the MRI of the neck. You DO NOT NEED gadolinium contrast if it's going to be the MRI. Nor do you need IODINE XXXXXXX for the CT scan...or OMNIPAQUE which is the other stuff they use these days....just a straight up CT scan.

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This query has utilized a total of 28 minutes of professional time in research, review, and synthesis for the purpose of formulating a return statement.

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