phone: (905) 330-9657
210 Georgian Drive, Oakville, ON. L6H 6T8

HNC aims to:

- provide educational services to the headache sufferer and his/her family

- raise the awareness level among the general public of the nature and impact of headache disorders

- assist the medical profession and other health disciplines in the management of headache disorders

- co-operate and work with governments at all levels to advance knowledge about all aspects of headache disorders and to encourage governmental assistance in this field

- to maintain and operate an educational website on the subject of headache disorders.

This website represents a partnership between HNC and the Canadian Headache Society – the Canadian physician-based organization.

Headache Network Canada is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors composed of the following Members:

Dr. Marek Gawel – President

Dr. Gary Shapero – Treasurer

Ms. Irene Worthington – Secretary

Dr. Werner Becker – Director

Dr. Rose Giammarco – Director.

The Executive Director is Valerie South.

Health Canada Approves onabotulinumtoxinA (Botox®) For Preventive Treatment for Chronic Migraine

People with chronic migraine suffer attacks on more than 15 days per month, and each attack last four hours or longer.  Global estimates track over 270,000 adult Canadians suffering with this often incapacitating disorder.  But there is new hope.

Health Canada approved Botox for chronic migraine based on data collected through two double-blind, placebo controlled trials involving 1,384 adults from 122 study sites in North America and Europe.

Do you have experience with Botox for chronic migraine that you’d like to share?  Visit the Blog and let us know!

Migraine is a chronic biological disorder that makes an individual prone to recurrent headache attacks.

It is called chronic because it can cause repeated headache attacks for many years. Migraine is not the only cause of repeated headaches, but can be distinguished from other headache types by carefully analyzing the characteristics of the person’s headaches. In other words, migraine headaches are somewhat different from tension type headaches, or cluster headaches, even though, like migraine, these two other conditions also cause recurrent attacks of headache.

A few important points:

1. A person is subject to migraine attacks because there is something different about their biochemistry, not because they have psychological problems or because they don’t know how to handle stress.
2. Most people with migraine have intermittent headache attacks with pain free intervals lasting days or even months between attacks (see “How is migraine diagnosed?“) However, some individuals with migraine will eventually develop very frequent attacks and even daily headaches. When this happens, several possible causes need to be considered.
3. Migraine is more than just a headache. Many people with migraine will have nausea and even vomiting with their attacks. Others experience marked sensitivity to light and sound during their headaches. A minority of people with migraine, up to a third, will have neurological symptoms (an aura) before some or all of their headaches, like disturbed vision or numbness and tingling. Fortunately, these symptoms are temporary and usually last less than an hour. People often worry that they are having a stroke when they occur, but unlike a stroke, aura symptoms generally do no harm.
4. Migraine is considered a “Primary” headache type. This means that it is not caused by or is secondary to other medical conditions, such as head trauma or brain tumors. These other conditions can cause headaches, but these headaches are not called migraine headaches. The relationship between other conditions and migraine can be complex, however. For example, some people will find that a head injury makes their migraine worse, or they may even experience migraine-like headaches for the first time after a head injury.

ABSTRACT: Objectives: The primary objective of this guideline is to assist the practitioner in choosing an appropriate prophylactic medication for an individual with migraine, based on current evidence in the medical literature and expert consensus. This guideline is focused on patients with episodic migraine (headache on ≤ 14 days a month).

Downloads

TOC
Abstract
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Section 5
Appendix I
Appendix II
Appendix III

Headache Clinic Diary

A blank headache clinic diary for you to download and use.
Download pdf

Sample Diary

A sample diary for you to download and reference.
Download pdf

Headache Pain Scale

Rate your pain with the pain scale document.
Download pdf

Neurological Health Charities Canada (NHCC)
Headache Network Canada member of NHCC, a coalition of organizations that represents people with chronic, often progressive, neurological and/or neuromuscular diseases, disorders, conditions and injuiries in Canada

Migraine Aura Foundation
“The section Migraine Art, edited by Klaus Podoll MD, is a unique presentation of artistic works as a medium to express and communicate those experiences which occur as signs and symptoms of migraine, a condition that affects 5-10 % of the population.”

Lifting the Burden
Lifting The Burden is a Global Campaign Against Headache. It will bring the need to allocate resources to study and alleviate the burden of headache to the attention of governments and other resource providers.

Books

Migraines for Dummies
by Diane Stafford & Jennifer Shoquist

Heal Your Headache:
The 1-2-3 Program For Taking Charge of Your Pain
by David Buchholz

What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Migraines:
The Breakthrough Program That Can Help End Your Pain
by Alexander Mauskop and Barry Fox