headaches

[sixfooter1186]

My son has been having daily headaches for the past week. He says he thinks the headache starts in the neck and works it's way up into the head and behind his eyes - a dull headache with throbbing now and then. Motrin takes the edge off but it will not go away.  He also complains of frequent urination. He lifts free weights on a regular basis. I plan to take him to the Dr. but what kind of Dr do you recommend - No Insurance - at this time so I want to make sure I take him to appropriate Dr.
Thanks

[SixStringer]

A family physician would be a good place to start, along with an eye exam if he hasn't had one for a while, as you mentioned glasses.  Does he play video games?  Just a stab in the dark, but headaches can be a symptom of overuse of hand-held and other TV or computer games.  Your description didn't sound like a migraine.

[sixfooter1186]

Thanks for your response. My son is 21 and has to be a full time student to be covered by our ins. but it's summer and he needed a break. His headache is gone, but we are definitely having him checked out. It could possibly be that he needs new glasses. Figuring out triggers for migraines or headaches is pretty tough! There is a headache clinic at Stanford - maybe that's a good place to start.
Thanks again.

[Toomanyadvil]

Hi sixfooter

I'm sorry your son is having these types of daily headaches. How frustrating.
Its hard to tell you who to start out with as many specialists will require a referal from your general practitioner.
But sometimes that has to do with insurance purposes. So the step I would take first would be to call a nuerologist and ask if they will take on new app without a referal since you do have insurance right now. And if they will see your son for daily headaches or migrains.
But if you cant find a nuerologist your sons general oractitioner can run many tests to help possibly find the cause of your sons headaches and if they cant then refer you to a nuerologist.

I'm glad your taking your son to the DR as daily headaches or migrains are something that needs to be checked out by a DR.
Some daily headaches are caused by a heightened response to pain signals or of the part of the brain that suppresses pain signals insnt working properly.
But because your son is complaining that it starts in his neck It may possibly be caused by a pinch nerve in the neck.
These are just ideas as I'm not a DR and only get headaches from my medication at times.
Does your son wake up with these headaches or do they come on at some point after waking?

I hope your able to get an app with the right DR especially because your paying out of pocket and need to make it count.
Have you thought about looking into state benefits? If your son is under the age of 18 its sometimes easier to get medical coverage for him than it would be just to get for yourself.

I hope this helped a bit.

TMA