There is just enough awareness about cluster headache and other headache disorders to prompt volumes of bad information to spread all over the internet, bookstores, and mainstream media outlets. It seems as though everyone is out to make a quick buck off the suffering and desperation of hurting patients. You’ve likely run across dramatic claims of “cures” such as ear piercings, soaking your feet in hot water, drinking lemon juice and salt water, purple lemonade, or green smoothies. With so much information out there, how will you ever know what is accurate?
Do reliable sources even exist?
Yes, they do. Almost all of it is free and it’s all available online for anyone to access. If you ever read something on or offline that sounds questionable, suspect, fishy, or too good to be true, use these resources to get the facts.
Information Resources
- Headache – The Journal of Head and Face Pain
- Cephalalgia
- American Headache Society
- American Headache and Migraine Association
- American Migraine Foundation
- International Headache Society
- International Classification of Headache Disorders
- National Headache Foundation
- Migraine Research Foundation
- Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy
- Dawn Buse
- United Council for Neurologic Specialties – Headache Medicine Diplomates
Must-Follow Twitter Feeds
While not a complete list, this list includes some of the country’s leading headache experts and organizations. These are not bloggers or companies with something to sell. If you want to know what’s happening in the world of headache medicine, these are the ones to follow. They are listed in alphabetical order, not necessarily in order of importance.
- AMPP Study @AMPP_Study
- Amaal Starling @AmaalStarling
- American Headache Society @ahsheadache
- American Headache and Migraine Association @AHMAOrg
- American Migraine Foundation @amfmigraine
- Cephalalgia @JCephalalgia
- Dave Watson @wvheadachedoc
- David Dodick @daviddodick
- Dawn Buse @DawnBuse
- Elizabeth Loder @eloder
- Elizabeth Seng @SengElizabeth
- Headache @HeadacheJournal
- Jefferson Headache Center @JeffHeadacheCtr
- National Headache Foundation @NHF
- Peter Goadsby @petergoadsby
- Rob Cowan @rpaulcowan
- Robert Shapiro @headachedoc
- Tammy Rome @TammyRome
- Teri Robert @TRobert
- Todd Schwedt @schwedtt
- William Young @williambyoung59
Other resources
- ClinicalTrials.gov lists all current clinical trials, inclusion/exclusion criteria, locations, and everything else you need to know
- Patient Access – Copyright.com allows low-cost access to medical journals and research to patients
- GoodRx.com offers a discount card to offset the cost of non-covered or poorly covered medicines
- Patients Like Me puts patients in control of their own health information and allows you to share your data with researchers, meet other patients like you, and track your overall health
- Migraine Buddy app helps track migraine attack frequency, pinpoint triggers, and track the connection between sleep and migraine
- Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute is dedicated to improving the quality and relevance of evidence available to help patients, caregivers, clinicians, employers, insurers, and policy makers make informed health decisions.
Please, fact check against these resources
Our goal is to provide you with accurate, reliable, truthful, scientifically-backed information every single time. We are dedicated to accurate, reliable, trustworthy information about cluster headache, other TACs, and all headache disorders.