Headache relief from resting head in recliner

[arlenebt]

Would appreciate feedback from migraine sufferers whether sitting with head supported in recliner or tall chair relieves pain.  I've had chronic daily headache for 18 months, been to 3 neurologists, and 2 neuros say I have chronic tension headache.  The most recent neuro said I had migraine.  I also had MRI of the neck (as well as the brain twice before); shows disc degeneration, but neurologist says everyone over 65 shows degeneration is the neck and spine.   I'm trying to determine what direction to take; the third neuro wants to do botox shots in my head to relieve migraine pain.

The best pain relief is sitting back in a supported chair, but I can't live my life housebound in a tall chair.  Pain is 3-4 on good days, with a little throbbing once in  a while; mostly, dull achy pain.  No other symptoms.  MRI's of the brain showed no abnormality; blood tests normal.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the forum!
Since a reclining chair helps cure your headache, it is probably a spinal headache. A headache that worsens on standing up and improves or disappears on lying flat is a spinal headache. This happens when the CSF pressure in the brain falls. This usually happens after spinal anesthesia, spinal taps, or spinal injuries. However in some people this happens without a cause. This is known as spontaneous intracranial hypotension.
A procedure called an epidural blood patch, if is successful, even temporarily, it generally means the patient does indeed have a spinal headache. A small amount of the patient’s own blood is injected into the space between the dura and the bony spine known as the epidural space. If this causes temporary or permanent cure of headache, the diagnosis of spontaneous intracranial hypotension is confirmed.
Other tests are a spinal tap and measuring the pressure. Although spinal fluid pressure is usually low in patients with spontaneous intracranial hypotension, it can be occasionally normal due to variations in the spinal fluid pressure.
A dye can be injected into the spinal fluid and entire spine’s CT scan is taken to locate the leak.
Please discuss this with a neurologist. This may help you cure your headaches. Of course a confirmed diagnosis cannot be given on net, but there is no harm in discussing this with a neurologist.
Hope this helps. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!

[hava]

You may achieve the same result as sitting with head supported by the the following method.
Apply head pressure for head pain relief.
Interlock your fingers and place your hands behind the head, breathe in and hold , press your interlocked hands againt the head and apply pressure for 3 seconds and release and continue breathing.

Take a deep breathe, hold it, and apply pressure to left side(behind eye) of head for 3 seconds with the palm of left hand, and then release and continue breathing.
Take a deep breathe, hold it, and apply pressure to right side(behind eye) of head for 3 seconds with the palm of right hand, and then release and continue breathing.

Interlock your fingers and place your hands in front of  the head, breathe in and hold , press your interlocked hands againt the head and apply pressure for 3 seconds and release and continue breathing.
Also you should do the breathing exercises (pranayam), which will help you very much.