News & Research, Treatment

Nasal Surgery for Headache Revisited

WNBC reported yesterday about a nasal surgery that may help headache sufferers. But don’t get excited about a new treatment yet. It’s not new information, just the same information presented in a different way. The journal article appeared in the June issue of Cephalalgia and was widely reported in July.

Here’s the gist of the study. People who have places inside their nasal passages or sinuses that touch each other may have headaches triggered or caused by those contact areas. In a study of 21 patients, 18 who had surgery to correct the contact areas say that their headaches improved by 25% or more after the operation.

In the study, a participant only qualified for the surgery if his or her headache was relieved when the contact point was numbed with local anesthesia. Researchers said that this was a good predictor of whether the surgery would help the patient. I had the surgery for headache in March 2000 with no success, but the doctor did not test the area beforehand.