What is a Headache Center and why do I need one?

Ever walk into a store, like one with a red dot in a circle logo, and be grateful that everything you need that day could be picked up in one spot?  Band-aids, toothpaste and your favorite cereal all in one stop.  This is the concept behind a headache center for migraine sufferers.  The idea is that everything or service you could want is all based at one practice.  No more referrals all over town.  How nice, right?  

It all starts with a board-certified headache specialist.  Typically, the doctor starts as a neurologist or a pediatric neurologist.  The doctor then takes another big test focused on Headache Medicine.  So, yes, you read that right.  I took two day-long tests to call myself a Headache Specialist.   The services added from there will depend on the headache center.  Most offer intravenous therapy, nerve blocks, and Botox at a minimum; but some also offer massage therapy, physical therapy, counseling and neurofeedback just as examples. 

We at the Pediatric Headache Center of Richmond are still young and growing.  We are hoping to add more services over time, but we have a pretty full-service base already.  We offer new and follow-up visits like any practice, but we also offer a number of nerve blocks that can potentially provide relief within minutes and sometimes lasts for months.  We offer Botox for more preventative therapy.  We also offer IV cocktails for emergency relief so that patients don’t have to go to the Emergency room.  We offer neurofeedback programs that can help with mind-body work and ease stress, anxiety, headaches, focus problems, and more.  This is gentle way to see improvement in your life without medicines in your body.  

We are also expanding and growing our offerings with our newest venture, Nourish: an IV bar at PHCR.  We are offering a menu of vitamins, electrolytes and fluids all given intravenously to help improve the quality of your life and ease things like fatigue, headaches, and muscle aches.  

So, see, a headache center is more than just a doctor’s office.  At Pediatric Headache Center of Richmond, we want you to feel like you are coming home.  You are at a good friend’s house to heal.  You are at your one stop shop for your headache needs provided by the top expert in the area.