we're starting something new here on new
six at nine sometimes we have those
awkward questions you know the ones you
don't really want to ask because they're
uncomfortable sometimes it's just
something you're unsure about you don't
know if it's a serious problem or if
it's something you can ignore so Kirsten
is here now to ask a doctor
that's right Julie today we are talking
headaches with dr. Latha gonti from
Osceola Regional Medical Center she's
back with us thank you so much and last
time we saw you you were telling us
about stroke risks it was right after
the death of actor Luke Perry and we
wanted to bring this back up because we
just found out recently Game of Thrones
actress Emilia Clarke talked about
surviving two major brain injuries
aneurysms
and the way that she described it she
was 24 years old when this happened to
her but the way that she described it
was like a rubber band was around her
brain and squeezing her she also had
some nausea so the question that we're
starting with today dr. Conte is can you
explain when a headache should be taken
to the emergency room sure so I think we
should start off by first explaining
that Heynckes are extremely common about
15% of the population suffers from
migraines so sometimes it's really
difficult to figure out when should you
go to the emergency department you know
I'm a big mnemonic acronym person so I
like to say when you have a headache
think about the things that for me are
like woes right so if we spell whoa WH o
a and then of course and ask because
there's more than one W would be that is
it the worst headache of your life right
so it's never been this bad and today
it's really you can't describe it it's
it's seriously something sometimes
patients will say it's like a vice-like
feeling sometimes people say they have
nausea they feel bad but sometimes they
can't really characterize it but if it
feels to you like it's the worst
headache of your life definitely that's
time to go to the ER the H would be if
you have a history of HIV any kind of
immune compromised or you're currently
pregnant or in the postpartum period
then you have increased risk of bad
headaches okay the O would be onset so
sudden onset you know you're minding
your own business you're going about
your workday and then BAM you have a
headache right so that would be onset a
would be if you use any kind of blood
thinners so anticoagulants anti
platelets aspirin warfarin any of the
newer anticoagulants
and then aged over 50 not that I'm
suggesting 50 is old by any means but
after age 50 we start to see some the
onset of certain more ominous
pathologies well and we've talked about
this because it's been brought up by
several celebrities who were younger
than 50 that it really does age is
important it's part of the whoa but it's
not the first letter in the whoa right
exactly and then talking about woes we
can't forget the S so S is any of the
stroke symptoms we talked about that
last time weakness of the face arm legs
blurred vision slurred speech and also
stiff neck so usually if you have
meningitis you're gonna be sicker but
sometimes stiff neck may be the first
thing that you notice now some people
who suffer from migraines talk about the
light in the room and how they're very
susceptible to bright lights right right
so there are some typical features of
migraine such as light sensitivity or
even noise sensitivity and if you you
know I think I wrote a recent blog where
one of my friends was complaining about
a headache and the first thing I noticed
about her was that the light didn't seem
to be bothering her and I thought that
was very unusual so any unusual feature
of headache because if you already
suffer from headaches it might be
difficult to figure out well is this one
any different does this one need to go
to the ER especially a migraine you know
something that's so difficult you may
not even be able to go to work I may not
be able to take care of your child so
important warning signs definitely what
else can you tell us about just the
feeling of something that's more serious
than a regular headache so generally
with a regular headache you can for
example like maybe take some rest you
can take take a massage you could maybe
take some Tylenol and it should go away
a lot of times with these serious
headaches they are persistent
you feel bad and you cannot continue on
with your regular day okay great advice
doctor Gandhi here from Osceola Regional
Medical Center thank you so much for
joining us for ask a doctor we loved
having you here