Negative News Drives Patients With Chronic Headaches to Reduce or Eliminate Pain Medications

Negative News Drives Patients With Chronic Headaches to Reduce or Eliminate Pain Medications

- American Academy of Craniofacial Pain Survey Finds Americans Would Pay Twice Their Income to Be Headache Free -

HURST, Texas, Aug. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Recent news about the safety and efficacy of cox-2 inhibitors and other pain medications has raised concerns about taking some prescription drugs for headaches, with 19 percent of headache sufferers reducing their dosage of headache medication or discontinuing their use altogether, according to a new survey sponsored by the American Academy of Craniofacial Pain (AACFP, www.aacfp.org ), whose members are specially trained in the treatment of headaches and face pain.

The AACFP Craniofacial Pain Survey (CFPS) also found that among those taking prescription drugs for their headaches, narcotic analgesics are most common (45 percent), with 88 percent of prescription users also taking OTC medications for their headaches. People with the most frequent headaches are twice as likely as less frequent sufferers to combat their problem with prescription drugs (26 percent vs. 13 percent).

According to Ira Klemons, DDS, PhD, President, American Board of Craniofacial Pain and a member of the Board of Directors of the AACFP, "By far the most common causes of headaches are dysfunctions of muscles of the head and face as well as related structures, such as the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) in the jaw." These dysfunctions may cause seemingly unrelated symptoms, such as pain in the eye, ear or face, dizziness or ringing in the ears. In addition, many people with these conditions also become depressed until the pain resolves."

Because muscles and joints of the head and face are often overlooked as a source of headaches, it's not surprising that patients are still suffering despite all these medications. Therefore, Klemons advises that: "If neurological causes, such as brain tumors, have been ruled out and your physician has found no specific source of your frequent headaches, the next step is to see a dentist specially trained to diagnose and treat craniofacial pain."

Finding Relief There is a high value placed on being headache free. When asked, "What would it be worth if you could live the rest of your life virtually headache free?", sufferers set the personal value of a cure at an average of $133,000, which is more than double the average annual household income ($54,000) among survey respondents.

To find relief, survey respondents said they would first seek treatment for headache pain from their primary care physician (82 percent), eye doctor (31 percent) or neurologist (30 percent), with 13 percent thinking of consulting their dentist for headache treatment.

"A growing number of dentists have gained specialized training in the diagnosis and treatment of craniofacial pain and have demonstrated success rates of more than 90 percent because of their significant experience resolving problems with head and face muscles and joints," said Klemons, who also is a Visiting Professor, TM Joint Disorders-Graduate Specialty Program, Catholic University, Buenos Aires, Argentina and co-author of the Textbook of Oral Medicine, which is used internationally for educating healthcare professionals about craniofacial pain and surgery for chronic pain.

Impact of Headache on Family, Work The survey also found that headaches have a significant impact on family, social and work life, especially greatest among those with frequent headaches. Fully three-quarters (75 percent) of Americans with weekly headaches admit their social or family life (67 percent) or work (63 percent) suffers in a variety of ways. In fact, almost half (49 percent) of those with weekly headaches say their condition keeps them from working to their potential.

Background and Methodology

This report presents the findings of a telephone survey conducted August 11-14, 2005 among a nationally representative sample of 1000 adults 18+, 483 men and 517 women. The interviews were conducted in Caravan, a national telephone omnibus survey. This survey was developed for the AACP by Leflein Associates, Inc. and fielded by Opinion Research Corporation International of Princeton, New Jersey. The margin of error for the sample overall is +/-3.0%. The margin of error for subgroups is larger.

The American Academy of Craniofacial Pain (www.aacfp.org ) was founded in 1985 to elevate and enhance the professional standards of diagnosis and treatment in the field of craniofacial pain and temporomandibular disorders, which includes headaches and face pain.

Source: American Academy of Craniofacial Pain

CONTACT: Donna K. Ramer of StrategCations, Inc., +1-212-777-5095, or
dramer@strategcations.com , for American Academy of Craniofacial Pain

Web site: http://www.aacfp.org/

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