Expert: Dr. Kristina Conner - 10/23/2006

Question
I've had "tension" headaches for 17 years, I'm 38. I also have bad scalp pain.  Its painful to brush my hair most mornings. I've tried tons of medications for depression and anxiety with no help. I've also done physical therapy, accupressure/accuncture, trigger point injection, biofeedback and a lot of therapy.  Anyways, I'm trying to keep positive but everything seems to not work.

Answer
Randy,
Thanks for your question.  Areas that you may want to investigate are food sensitivities, chemical exposures, and other manual therapies.  Food sensitivities can show up as muscle tightness, headaches, or in other ways.  The most reliable ways to find this out would be to do some blood testing for IgG antibodies to a panel of foods, or do an elimination diet and challenge. Often after eliminating the sensitive foods, problems like headaches go away.   
Chemical exposures can lead to unexplained sensitivies, especially heavy metal toxicity.  If this is an area you suspect you may have had some exposure in, because of a previous home, school, or workplace, that could be a contributing factor.  A reliable test would be a provoked urine test for heavy metals or chemicals, which could be done through a natural health practitioner or a environmental medicine specialist.  Treatment would be a detoxification program and oral or IV chelation therapy, or other treatments if a specific chemical exposure was uncovered.  
Other manual therapies that may help are chiropractic, regular massage (not acupressure), and craniosacral therapy.  These are all excellent for many people in reducing chronic headaches.  
If you'd like to pursue any of the first 2 areas, I'd suggest you seek out a naturopathic doctor at www.naturopathic.org, or another natural healthcare specialist.  They can guide you through this process, help improve your overall quality of life, and prevent future problems.  
Good luck in your search
Dr Conner