Dr. Henry C Hooker, MD - His Take on Headaches Dr. Henry C Hooker, an MD says that your pain will not get better until you get off the pills. He believes that physical therapy can go a long way toward bringing his patients the relief they seek, and he regularly makes that a part of his prescribed treatment. But there are some practical steps that any migraine sufferer can take that will likely have a positive impact on the condition. "Migraines are often triggered by foods, stresses, and lifestyle habits that can be changed," he says. But with an accurate diagnosis and proper education, there is hope for headache pain." The good doctor is a member of the American Headache Society, the International Headache Society, and the National Headache Foundation, among other professional affiliations."It's important to know that treating headaches is completely different than treating other pain. "You can actually make a headache worse with overuse of analgesics, antiinflammatory drugs, and opiates. Many of his patients report significant reduction in the frequency of their migraine headaches after they begin physical therapy. Dr. Henry C Hooker MD says there is always hope. These three things are key to preventing migraines." Too often, medications that are intended to bring a patient relief end up making things worse. "They can be managed, if not necessarily cured. According to the National Headache Foundation, an estimated twenty-eight million Americans suffer from the most severe form, migraine headaches. With each new headache patient, we conduct a careful physical and patient history, with imaging of the brain." Imaging of the brain means an MRI or CT scan. The exact cause of migraine headaches are not known, says our doctor, which is one of the things that makes treating them so difficult. "Establish a good sleep routine, a good exercise routine, a good diet. "One of the most common types of headaches I see is caused by overuse of medication," he says. Dr. Henry C Hooker MD is a leading authority on headaches. Migraine headaches often come with debilitating pain, and symptoms like nausea, loss of appetite, and a sensitivity to light. Migraine headaches, he says, are in a class by themselves. "Migraines are a chronic condition you have to think about like diabetes," he says. He is the founder and director of The Headache Center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and one of only 418 Board Certified headache specialists in the United States. About eleven percent of the American population, says the doctor, suffers from chronic headache pain.