Dr. Leah Levi, Shiley Eye Center's Neuro-ophthalmology specialist, presented her lecture, "Headaches and Eye-Aches: Which Ones Matter?" to Circle of Sight members on June 23, 2004. It was a very informative and interesting lecture that traced the history of headaches, outlined the various kinds of headaches, eye-aches and their treatment, and discussed when it is important to be concerned about your headache. Following the lecture Dr. Levi facilitated a helpful question-answer session.

First, Dr. Levi discussed the history of the headache as well as some unusual treatments. Trephination was an ancient treatment of headaches which involved puncturing the person's skull suffering from the headache or migraine in order to release the "noxious fumes" which were thought to originate in the liver and rise to the head. Other ancient remedies included applying an electric fish to the forehead, bloodletting, and ingesting willow bark, a forerunner of aspirin.

Dr. Levi discussed several types of headaches, their symptoms, and how best to relieve them. She stated that there are two main types of headaches: tension and migraine. Tension headaches, which make-up 90% of all headaches, are caused by tightening of muscles in the head and neck as a result of stress. Migraines, which are distinguished from tension headaches by visual auras, aversion to light and noise, and nausea, are sometimes initiated by certain types of food, bad odors, fatigue, exercise, bright lights, and other precipitants.

"High blood pressure rarely causes headaches. In addition, other symptoms, not headaches, predominate in most strokes,” stated Dr. Levi. Also, brain tumors are most often signaled by symptoms other than a headache. “When your headache is different than your regular headache, if your headache wakes you up in the middle of the night, or is worst first thing in the morning you should be concerned,” said Dr. Levi. In addition, if there are any other symptoms such as weakness, confusion, or neck pain then medical attention should be sought. She also referred to kinds of headaches that warrant medial attention, like "thunderclap" headaches, which come on strongly and suddenly. Most importantly, if in doubt about your headache, then seek medical attention immediately!

Some headaches seem to occur right around the eyes and this is called eye-ache. Serious eye problems usually present other symptoms than just the ache and therefore can be diagnosed during an eye examination. Eye-aches can also occur because your glasses are not the correct prescription or your eye muscles are having trouble keeping your eyes aligned. Finally, instantaneous "lightning" eye pain is a quite common occurrence usually caused by stress and is benign. Dr. Levi stressed that it is important to schedule an eye examination if you have a new eye-ache that is paired with decreased vision or any redness. For further information please call (858) 534-4981.