Pain medicine speciality
Head pain
Headache and facial pain syndromes can be disabling, but many respond to targeted diagnosis and treatment.
Treatments for head pain
At Algarve Pain Centre in Vale do Lobo, Algarve, we offer a comprehensive range of evidence-based treatments for head pain. Our multidisciplinary team of pain medicine physicians, spine surgeons, rehabilitation specialists and psychologists works together so that your plan is built from multiple expert perspectives, not just one.
Whether your pain is recent or long‑standing, we focus on understanding how it affects your daily life and long‑term goals. This helps us decide when simple measures are enough and when more advanced interventions are needed.
Head pain overview
Head pain can include migraine, tension-type headache, cluster headache and other primary headache disorders. It may also be secondary to conditions affecting the neck, jaw, sinuses or nerves.
We focus on the pattern: onset, frequency, triggers, associated symptoms (nausea, light sensitivity, tearing, nasal congestion), and any red flags. This helps match you to the most appropriate evidence-based pathway.
Treatment may include lifestyle and trigger strategies, acute and preventive medicines when indicated, rehabilitation for cervicogenic contributors, and targeted procedures for selected headache syndromes.
Contact usMost Common Syndromes
Treatment Approaches
We have a team expert in diagnosis and management of the head.
Botulin Toxin Injection
A potent neurotoxin that inhibits release of acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction.
Learn more
Pharmacological Management
Medication strategies are commonly part of treatment and a wide range of drugs can be used to manage pain.
Learn moreHead Pain in Numbers
Head pain is a common health problem with a global prevalence of 47% (symptoms occurring at least once in the past year) and women are disproportionately affected (3:1).
Many factors, like stress, anxiety, injury and migraine can lead to headaches. In European populations, the annual sex-adjusted prevalence for tension-type headache is 35%, for migraine is 38%, but for cluster headache is only 0.15%.
Consequently, sometimes the high frequency and intensity of headaches affects a patient's quality of life and a diagnosis and effective treatment make a huge difference to the patient and can be very rewarding for the clinician.
For patients
Keep a simple headache diary for 2–4 weeks (frequency, duration, triggers, and medication use). This improves diagnostic accuracy and treatment selection.
Seek urgent medical attention for “worst-ever” headache, sudden onset thunderclap headache, new neurological symptoms, or headache with fever/neck stiffness.
For clinicians
We align diagnosis with ICHD-3 patterns and prioritise medication-overuse screening, red flags, and coordinated preventive strategies when indicated.
Referral notes that include frequency, disability, acute medication use, and any prior preventive trials help streamline care.