Spinal Headache Treatment: Managing Headaches Caused By A Spinal Tap

Spinal taps and spinal anesthesia is administered by inserting needles into the spinal column. Although this procedure is usually safe, about 30 percent of those people who undergo spinal taps and spinal anesthesia may suffer from spinal headaches after the procedure. In most cases, the spinal headache goes away after a few hours or rest but there are some instances when the pain simply lingers on despite rest. If you suffer from headaches after a procedure that involves your spine, you should tell your doctor about your pain and ask your doctor for spinal headache treatment. No, you should not attempt to use headache home treatment in this case. Spinal headache can be serious so you need your doctor to give you the right type of treatment. Timely spinal headache treatment will reduce your discomforts and help you feel better.

Symptoms And Treatment Of Spinal Headache

Most doctors do not give spinal headache treatment to their patients after a procedure involving the spine. You see, headaches after a procedure involving the spine are not necessarily caused by fluid leaks in the spine or something like that. Cautious doctors usually give their patients pain relievers to ease the pain out but withhold spinal headache treatment until such time when they are sure about the cause of the headache. As patient, it is therefore your duty to help you doctor figure out what is wrong with you. You need to describe your symptoms to your doctor as clearly as you can. Note that spinal headaches are usually accompanies with other symptoms like ringing in your ears, dizziness, nausea and some degree of visual changes. If you experience some or all of these symptoms, you should tell your doctor about so that your doctor can prescribe the proper spinal headache treatment.

If your symptoms do not improve with 24 hours after your spinal headache treatment, your doctor may recommend spinal headache treatments like epidural blood patch, intravenous caffeine and epidural saline. Epidural blood patch is administered by injecting a small amount of your own blood into punctured spine. The blood clot seals off the hole in the spine and stops the leaking of spinal fluids. On the other hand, intravenous caffeine works by constricting the blood vessels in your head to relieve pain. Epidural saline on the other hand works by flooding the spine with water and stops the cerebral spinal fluid from leaking. These types of spinal headache treatments may be a bit uncomfortable but they work well.