Helping People With Headache Take Control, Get Relief (NAPSA)—Each year, 90 percent of all men and 95 percent of ——. all women haveat least one head- ache. And despite many people having frequent and sometimes severe headaches that affect their family, social and work life, most do not actively seek relief from their condition. Experts offer four simple strategies to help get sufferers on the right course to relief: Realize that headaches matter and take your headaches seriously; Learn all you can—be a stu- dent of your own headaches; e Pay more attention to your personal headache patterns— track your headaches and try to find clues to triggers and solutions; and Take control and get the help and care you deserve. Many resources are available. WhyIt’s Personal What makes headache such a personal condition is the varying degree of headache experiences, which can range from mild tension headaches every so often to chronic, crippling migraines. Worse yet, these headaches can be triggered by a variety of physical and environmental factors—from hormones to weather, stress to diet. As a result, an individualized approach is key to getting relief from headaches. Back To School To help people with headache take important steps toward get- ting relief, the National Headache Foundation (NHF) has launched “Headache U: It’s all about YOU,” the first headache education pro- gram of its kind. Developed under the guidance of an advisory panel of both physicians who specialize in headache care and people with New online tools may help many people understand and manage their headaches. headache, Headache U contains a series of patient education re- sources and tools found at www.headaches.org/headacheu/. One example is “Chart Your Course to Relief: a personal head- achecare tool,” which asks people with headache questions about their experiences and, based upon their answers, creates a profile and guides them toward resources that are relevant to their needs. “People with headachesare all over the map when it comes to their process in seeking relief. But the critical first step is to really get to know their personal headache patterns, and this new tool helps them do that,” says Roger Cady, M.D., vice president of the NHFboardof directors, and direc- tor of the Headache Care Center in Springfield, Mo. Over the past 40 years, NHF’s experts have pulled together many easy-to-use tools and resources to help people better understand headaches and op- tions for headache care. This information is available online at www.headaches.org or by calling (888) NHF-5552.
