Community > Expert Q & A > Osteoarthritis > Osteoarthritis and Headaches

Text Size

Osteoarthritis and Headaches

Q: I have OA of the spine. I have frequent headaches and wonder if they could be related to my arthritis. If so, what can I do? Regular pain relievers don’t help.

A: Occasionally headaches can occur as a result of osteoarthritis (OA) high in the neck where the spine meets the skull, but that is unusual.

Because you say pain relievers do not help, I suspect you may be experiencing rebound headaches, also called medication-overuse or toxic headaches. Taking pain relievers or other headache medications (such as those prescribed for migraine headaches) too frequently can create a negative cycle.

For example, the labels on some pain relievers say to use the medication for no more than 10 days; if you use them longer, your body may become accustomed to them. Then, when you do stop, your body goes through a form of withdrawal. You experience headaches, much like the ones that occur when some people don’t get their morning caffeine. That spurs you to take more pain-relief medicine, worsening the problem.

If rebound headaches aren’t your problem and over-the-counter (OTC) analgesic medications, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol), ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) or naproxen (Aleve), don’t help, I suggest you see a physician and ask for a different type of medication, as there are many types. For example, an antidepressant, taken on a daily basis, may help prevent headaches without causing rebound headaches.

Also discuss with your physician the possibility that you may have a more diffuse pain syndrome, such as fibromyalgia. People with fibromyalgia often have pain in the spine as well as headaches that don’t respond to typical pain relievers. If your doctor does diagnose fibromyalgia, a treatment plan of exercise, analgesic medications and perhaps antidepressants to improve deep sleep can help relieve your headaches as well as the pain in your spine.

Daniel Clauw, MD, Rheumatologist

Maureen

26 Jun 2011, 17:01

Hi There, last yr I slipped on ice & hurt my lower right hand side of my back when I landed really hard,i'm 64 but have never had arthritis so I don't think it's that what could I have done? it's still is a problem! & painfull

REGARDS

maureen

Heidi B

15 Jan 2011, 21:20

I was recently in a car accident in October 2010 suffering from whiplash and received an MRI in December 2010. The MRI revealed a stress fracture in c3-c4, and left sided degenerative hypertrophic facet arthritis producing moderate severity foraminal stenosis.

First of all what does this mean?

I didn't have this pain prior to the accident; however, can arthritis creep up within 3 months?

Can a stress fracture cause a lot of pain or is it the arthritis?

I am seeing a pain specialist on Monday for possible injections of some kind.

Kerrie

16 Dec 2010, 10:08

Cathy- I have Psoriatic arthritis, fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis. So I guess the answer to your question is YES! I am 37 yrs old and walk like I am 100. Good luck to you all and God Bless.

CASA

03 Nov 2010, 11:10

<a href="http://www.casa.com/">kellogs</a> [url=http://www.casa.com/]kellogs[/url]

Angela Hunter

30 Oct 2010, 00:04

I have been diagnosed with migraine headaches for the last 18 years, which have been frequent and debilitating. Pain relievers are a joke and rarely work for any pain I exerience. I have tried every possible "preventative" with zero success. I have had to manage my migranes with "rescue" treatments, meaning taking a migraine medicine. The only one that works for me is Relpax. I kept complaining about neck pain associated with my migraines and my doctor said she wanted to do an x-ray of my neck (this was in 2008)I said I've had x-rays but nothing showed up. This time it did arthritis in my neck. She started me on Mobic, which reduced my migraines from once a week to about once a month. I had been experiencing pain in other joints so I had them checked too. I have severe OA in my knees. OA in my lumbar and know my hip and shoulder have started having problems along with my knuckels. I haven't had my hip or shoulder checked yet but suspect they have arthritis too. Why does it seem like the onset happened all at once and is getting worse quickly?

renee vickery

20 Jul 2010, 00:34

I fell 25 years ago at work and tore all the muscle tissue in my shoulders and upper back. I also had an MRI, several actually, and my doctors have found that I have large spurs (3 to be exact) in my neck and they've been there for 16 years now. I get trigger point injections into my neck, shoulders, base of my skull and kneck, and my upper back and mid to lower back. I can only receive them in groups of 6 injection sites every 2 months. I could really use massage therapy to ease the pain and stress-Especially since I am going back to college to complete my Bachelor's Degree to be a Social Worker and work with Suicide Victims- possibly Army and Marine Soldiers due to the highest rate of suicide ever since this war began. I've been there, Suffered PTSD, Officer's Daughter that was severely abused, and numerous suicide attempts and successes, but God brought me back on a ventilator twice. I'm 50 years old and in constant pain. I have Vicadin and Demerol, and for severe Migraines I get injections of Nubain and Phenergan as needed. I have slow spinal degeneration. Do you have any advice? Renee

AndrewBoldman

04 Jun 2009, 06:28

Hi, cool post. I have been wondering about this topic,so thanks for writing.

jan gardner

17 Mar 2009, 22:20

i had a accident 18yrs ago and have now got osterarthritis and fibromyalgia i have joint pain in hands elbow shoulders knees hips and spine cervical and lower can syptoms be multiple like this

Cathy

12 Mar 2009, 08:43

Is it possible to have both osterarthritis and rhuemtoid arthritis. What about fibromyalgia also.

The comment function provides the opportunity to comment on the content above.

General comments or questions to Arthritis Today editors and medical experts can be submitted here. Past medical questions and answers are available here.

Promotion of products and services and other inappropriate comments are prohibited and will be removed. If you spot one of these before we do, please send an alert.

All fields are required but only your name and comment will be displayed. Your e-mail address will not be used for any other purpose.

Name:
Email:
Text:
Enter the words shown above separated by space Enter the numbers you hear

Osteoarthritis and Headaches

Leave a Comment