Monday, December 1, 2008

Migraine: Find the Right Doctor


I Live in Southwest Virginia. There are a lot of neurologists in my area and ... there are no headache or pain clinics. Most of the neurologists in my area feel that they have all the tools they need to treat any migraine patient. Because my insurance company believes that it is better to exhaust all local resources no matter the overall cost than to go out of service to a healthcare provider that specializes in the type of treatment you need, I have seen about 80% of the neurologists in my area. This has cost me and my insurance company no small sum.

In my experience, insurance companies can make it difficult to find a doctor with the experience and tools needed to treat your particular type of headaches. Many neurologists just haven’t had the opportunity to treat a wide variety of headache sufferers. Because a lot of the causes are still unknown, there are too many different possibilities and treatment options are changing constantly.

I found some lists of pain clinics in the United States. This is probably not exhaustive, but is a start;

List of Pain Clinics - United States A - Ca

List of Pain Clinics - United States Co - FL

List of Pain Clinics - United States G - Io

List of Pain Clinics - United States K - M

List of Pain Clinics - United States Mi - Ne

List of Pain Clinics - United States Ne - Ok

List of Pain Clinics - United States Or - Tex

List of Pain Clinics - United States V - Wy

I did some research before picking a neurologist or other doctor to trust with my care (not using the above lists). That doctor didn’t work out, but he was able to put me in touch with another, and she put me in touch with the one that has given me the most hope in over 10 years. I took all of my records, my films, my drug and treatment list, everything my wife and I have collected since 1985. We sat down and he listened. For the first time in a long time, I believe that I have found the right doctor.

If the doctor will not listen to me, then I haven’t found the right doctor.

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