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        New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2002 >> Foreign body in sinus causing cluster headache?
        
(Message started by: steck on Sep 17^th, 2002, 12:39am)

Title: Foreign body in sinus causing cluster headache?
Post by steck on Sep 17^th, 2002, 12:39am

Hi All,

I am new here, but am a spouse of a 10 year sufferer.

I have come across a report (Neurology, 2002) of an young female with a foreign body (dental amalgam) and sinusitis in the maxillary (upper jaw) sinus causing symptoms identical to CH.

Is this as rare and odd as I think it is? Or are there other people out there who have heard of people who have had CH due to foreign bodies or due to chronic infections in the sinuses?

The amazing thing about this report is that surgical removal of the foreign body has completely stopped the patient's clusters for 3 years now (before that they occurred every 6-8 months)

Any info and experiences related to this will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Title: Re: Foreign body in sinus causing cluster headache
Post by echo on Sep 17^th, 2002, 3:08pm

Can't help you on this one.

Title: Re: Foreign body in sinus causing cluster headache
Post by domm on Sep 17^th, 2002, 4:41pm

steck - nothing like that for me, but lots of folks have had dental and sinus surgery without relief. Can't remember anyone saying they actually found something up there, but who knows. There is so much we don't know about this condition.
domm

Title: Re: Foreign body in sinus causing cluster headache
Post by Tom on Sep 17^th, 2002, 4:47pm

Hi "steck",

thanks a lot for your valuable information - every puzzle peace that may lead to a final Understanding of Cluster Headaches should be appreciated !

In spite of so many (sometimes controversial) scientific data we still don't know whether all CH have a single, homogeneous and for all sufferers valid cause or not...

Anyhow, I'm sure that dental amalgam generally and as foreign body in maxillary sinuses specially can't be the one and single cause of CH for everybody.

My best wishes for your spouse ! Thomas, CHead, MD

Title: Re: Foreign body in sinus causing cluster headache
Post by steck on Sep 17^th, 2002, 8:51pm

Thanks for all the replies so far!

Tom, you have raised an interesting point, which is why I asked the question in the first place. Is CH actually a group of diseases? I agree that this seemingly odd idea of a foreign body is probably not the main cause of CH. But maybe there is a small group of (atypical) CH caused by sinusitis or foreign bodies in the sinuses. There would be treatment for this group.

But are there any others out there who have heard about or had experiences with foreign bodies in the sinuses and the development of CH??

thanks,

steck

Title: Re: Foreign body in sinus causing cluster headache
Post by Tom on Sep 18^th, 2002, 7:39am

"Is CH actually a group of diseases?" - that's one crucial question, indeed.