Check Up - Headache and Migraine

Most of us have had a painful headache at some time in our lives. They can range from regular migraines that keep people away from work to chronic daily headaches that can be induced by taking too many painkillers. In this edition of Check Up, Barbara Myers will be putting your questions about the origins and treatments of headaches to Dr Andrew Dowson, Director of the Headache Service at Kings College, London. There is no single cause for headaches and, while they are painful and annoying, the majority of headaches do not indicate that there is a serious problem. The pain can be mild to severe in one or more parts of the head as well as the back of the neck. There are many different types of headache patterns and a variety of causes.