Brain Connection - Headaches, pain and epilepsy

Neurological diseases are playing an increasingly dominant role as our society ages. Stroke is now the third leading cause of death in Singapore. It also causes significant disability to survivors. Headaches are one of the most common reasons that patients seek medical opinion for. Migraine, a more severe form of headaches, afflicts 360,000 Singaporeans. Chronic pain, be it back, neck or facial pain also afflicts a significant proportion of our population. Epilepsy and sleep disorders are some of the other common neurological disorders for which patients see neurologists.

Headaches - When to seek help?

Migraines and tension headaches are common types of headaches in which patients seek medical treatments for. It is one of the seven most common reasons for visiting a General Practitioner. Patients need to watch out for signs indicating a need for specialist consultation if:

i.	he/she has a long history of headaches but notices that severity and frequency is on the increase,
ii.	headaches are severe enough for him/her to take multiple doses of painkiller, i.e. every week,
iii.	the headaches lead to numbness or weakness, and
iv.	he/she experiences sudden abrupt headaches within a short span of time, e.g. a minute.

Back Pain - Causes and Treatment

Chronic lower back pain can prevent a person from partaking in life's simple activities. The causes of lower back pain could be due to the degeneration of the bone or subsequent pressure on the nerves that may occur due to lower back surgery pressure on the spinal cord. Thorough investigation is needed for the appropriate treatment. The pain could originate from the muscles, joints, bones or nerves. Once the cause has been identified, treatment can be administered accordingly and can take the form of medication, injections or surgery.

Featured Neurologist

Dr Siow Hua Chiang, Charles is an American Board Certified neurologist with additional subspecialty training in headache and pain management. He trained and was on faculty at the world famous Jefferson Headache Centre in Philadelphia, USA. His particular interests include treatment of severe headaches for which he offers infusion and botulinum therapy among others for. There is also an inpatient pain programme for more intractable patients. Dr Siow also performs nerve blocks and trigger point injections for chronic pain management.

He is currently President of the Headache Society of Singapore, Secretary of the Asian Headache Foundation and executive committee member of the Pain Association of Singapore. He is also chairman of the Ministry of Health Clinical Practice Guidelines committee on headaches. Dr Siow is also a reviewer for various journals as well as an author of various papers and book chapters.