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Chronic headache pain not treatable effectively with locally injected steroids

Chronic headache pain not treatable effectively with locally injected steroids There are no additional benefits of adding steroids to the local anesthetics when it comes to treating chronic headache pain, as per a study by neurologists at the Jefferson Headache Center at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.

The study findings were revealed after being collected by looking at 29 men and women with daily headaches of chronic nature. The patients were divided into two groups, one group was administered with GONB (greater occipital nerve block) with lidocaine and bupivicaine alone and the second group was administered with the two drugs with steroids.

From News-Medical.Net:

According to Avi Ashkenazi, M.D., assistant professor of neurology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, greater occipital nerve block (GONB) is a technique to treat acute headaches by locally injecting anesthetics such as lidocaine just under the skin to provide acute pain relief for acute headache attacks and migraines. Such treatments can work quickly, perhaps in seconds or by five to 10 minutes, and its effectiveness could last from hours to two or three days to several weeks. Treatment can be repeated if needed, he notes, and it has few side effects.

There are two ways to block the occipital nerves: by injecting a local anesthetic alone or by adding an anti-inflammatory steroid along with the anesthetic. No data exist whether one is better than the other, but the use of corticosteroids is controversial because of their potential side effects, such as hair loss at the site of injection. He notes that there is no consensus among headache experts about steroid use for headache.

Dr. Ashkenazi and his team are now expected to focus at the next 4 weeks of post-therapy data besides recruiting more patients for trials. It was remarked by Dr. Ashkenazi that there seems to be a possibility that he and his team could find steroids lengthening the anti-inflammatory effects of injections.