Headache doctors, or neurologists are not necessarily Migraine specialists, and therefore if one suspects they have Migraines, they should seek a competent migraine doctor. One that is highly recommended. Finding the best will save you a lot of pain down the road.

Although headache, and migraine specialist are neurologists, many neurologists are not experts at treating migraines. Find a headache specialist to help YOUR migraines. First of all, it would be foolish to say that all migraine/headache sufferers are being helped at headache clinics.

Than again there would be no headache clinics after awhile, if no one was being helped.

Just as we have said in some pages, each migraine sufferer has something different that causes their migraines. The last headache clinic my wife was going to (and not being helped) was a clinic that wasn't invasive.

But there were many that were being helped where she was going. One patient was coming several thousand miles for migraine relief.

Fifty percent or more of headache sufferers are taking to much pain medicine. For many migraine sufferers, switching preventives, and cutting back on pain medicine is all that it takes to have migraine relief.

But one has to realize that even migraine specialist are like ball players, or lawyers. There are good ones, and there are great ones.

Here is the difference between neurologists, and headache/migraine specialist.

Neurologists treat a wide range of neurological diseases, and illnesses as well as injuries to the head involving neurological problems.(and they are good at this)

Then there are headache, and migraine specialist that work every day, that treat nothing but migraines, and headaches. They have more experience.

For those that are reading this, depending on the cause of your migraines/headaches, you may have to switch clinics if your headache specialist doesn't help you.

A woman e-mailed, and said her head hurt every day. She was taking Imitrex every day plus more pain medicine."She was having rebound headaches".

She was seeing her primary doctor, and a neurologist. When she went to her neurologist, she said he taped her on the knee, looked in her eyes, and prescribed another preventive. (You get the picture).

Can you see now why your neurologist may not help if he/she doesn't work each, and every day with headache/migraine sufferers.

I will say this again, if your present migraine specialist isn't working for you don't stay with him/her very long. Give him/her a reasonable amount of time than move on to another.

What to look for when choosing a migraine specialist.

Someone who has the expertise to give you headache relief. Also ask how many methods of help they offer in their migraine treatment.

"If we had to do it all over again, we would have went somewhere that was invasive due to the severely of my wife's headaches/migraines".

How bad are your migraines? Do they hurt every day? Are you suffering from menstrual migraines?

Have you tried staying away from migraine food triggers? Do you take to many pain pills? If this is the case, you may find headache relief by having a headache specialist sit you down, and let you know how to find relief.

But many migraine sufferers just don't respond to medicine.(about 10 percent) That's when you will have to find a migraine specialist who is invasive.

We are at a headache/migraine clinic now that came highly recommended.

If you don't find migraine relief in a reasonable amount of time, a decent headache/migraine specialist will have a place that he will send his headache sufferers that he doesn't help.

Depending on the conclusion of your migraine specialist, if you don't find relief you may be referred, like my wife, to a headache center.

These places offer medical, nursing, psychological, and psychiatric help. They have much more to offer a headache sufferer.

My wife was to be sent to a headache hospital in Michigan, but wouldn't go because it was so far away. They would have admitted her, and found what was wrong. We'll give you their site, and info below.

Some questions to ask when you find a migraine specialist

If your like me, make a list out. If your head is hurting in a doctors office, changes are you will forget many questions you will think of later that you wanted to ask him.

* First off, you know your body, and your questions should be about you.

* What type of headache/migraine do you have, and what exactly is his diagnosis for your head pain.

* What changes in your lifestyle can you make to prevent these headaches, and what may be triggering them.

* Ask him about preventives if you don't take any.

* If you get sick with your migraine, ask him for nausea medicine.

* If you have never had a MRI, and you want one, ask him about one.

*When he writes you prescriptions, ask him about each one, side effects, does it cause rebound headaches, and anything else that comes to mind. Take a notepad if necessarily.

* One more thing to ask, is if he recommends any supplements such as magnesium, feverfew, COq10, or others. Most migraine specialist do.