Correlations between alexithymia and pain severity, depression, and anxiety among patients with chronic and episodic migraine.

AIMS: Some studies have found elevated alexithymia among patients with chronic pain, but the correlations between alexithymia and the severity of pain, depression, and anxiety among migraine patients are unclear. The aims of the present study were to investigate whether individuals suffering from episodic migraine (EM) differ from those with chronic migraine (CM) in regards to depression, anxiety, and alexithymia measures and to investigate the association of alexithymia with the results of depression and anxiety test inventories and illness characteristics. METHODS: A total of 165 subjects with EM and 135 subjects with CM were studied. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) were administered to all subjects. The correlation between alexithymia and sociodemographic variables, family history of migraine and illness characteristics (pain severity, frequency of episode, duration of illness) were evaluated. RESULTS: Compared with EM patients, the CM patients had significantly higher scores on measures of depression but not alexithymia and anxiety. There was a positive correlation between TAS scores and age and education in both migraine groups, but there was no correlation between TAS scores and other demographic variables. Depression and anxiety were significantly correlated with alexithymia in both migraine groups. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that CM patients are considerably more depressive than EM patients. In this study, depression and anxiety were significantly correlated with alexithymia in both migraine groups. Our results demonstrate a positive association between depression, anxiety, and alexithymia in migraine patients.

Orgasmic headache responsive to greater occipital nerve blockade.

We present a male with headache related to sexual activity. An injection of steroid and local anesthetic combination was applied to the greater occipital nerve of the symptomatic site. The orgasmic headache stopped after the procedure.

Influence of the long term use of a computer on median, ulnar and radial sensory nerves in the wrist region.

OBJECTIVES: Repetitive microtrauma or overuse injuries may often affect upper extremities of the long term computer users. The aim of this study was to compare sensory nerve conduction velocities (SNCV) for median, radial and ulnar nerves in the wrist of computer users with the same parameters in controls who do not use computers regularly. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty one male computer users (age: mean (M) = 28.3 years ± standard deviation (SD) = 7.5 years) and 21 male control subjects (age: M±SD = 24.1±4.6 years) were recruited for the study. Limb length and the perimeters of the dominant arm and forearm were measured for each subject. The neurophysiological study consisted of measuring sensory nerve conduction of the median, ulnar and radial nerves. RESULTS: The sensory conduction velocities of both median and ulnar nerves were significantly delayed in the dominant arm of the computer users compared to the controls. In addition, sensory conduction velocity of the median nerve was significantly delayed in the dominant extremity of the computer users compared to their non-dominant extremity. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that computer users have a tendency toward developing median and ulnar sensory nerve damage in the wrist region. Mechanism of delayed SNCV in the median and ulnar nerves may be due to sustained extension and ulnar deviation of the wrist during computer mouse use and typing. Reduced SNCV changes were more apparent on the dominant side of the median nerve. This may indicate the increased neural deficits related to an increased use of the dominant side. Further investigation is needed to determine how to reduce potential risk factors at this stage in order to prevent development of median or ulnar neuropathy in the long term computer users.

[Occipital neuralgia with visual obscurations: a case report]. / Görme bozuklugunun eslik ettigi oksipital nevralji: Olgu sunumu.

Vertigo, dizziness and visual blurring have been reported in painful conditions in trigeminal innervation zones such as in idiopathic stabbing headache, supraorbital neuralgia or trigeminal nerve ophthalmic branch neuralgia. Although not common, pain in occipital neuralgia can spread through the anterior parts of the head. In this article, we present a case whose occipital neuralgiform paroxysms spread to the ipsilateral eye with simultaneous visual obscuration; the mechanisms of propagation and visual obscuration are discussed.