If you experience frequent or severe headaches, you're not alone. About 90% of people in the U.S. get headaches at some point, and 15% have severe headaches each year. In the U.S., about 42 million people live with headache disorders, such as migraines.
Our neurologists provide expert diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing management for all types of headaches.
What Are Headaches?
Headaches can cause pain in your head and face that lasts for hours or days. They may begin at any age and may worsen over time.
What Headache Conditions Do We Treat?
We provide comprehensive care for all types of headaches, including:
- Migraines — Recurring, pulsing headaches often associated with nausea or sensitivity to light and sound.
- Cluster headaches — Rare type of headache that occurs suddenly and is often severe for a few minutes to a few hours.
- Tension headaches — The most common type of headache, causing dull, aching pain on both sides of your head.
Who’s Eligible for Headache Services?
You may be eligible for headache services if you have frequent or severe headaches that affect your quality of life.
What Headache Services Do We Offer?
UPMC offers:
- First-of-their-kind prescription medicines.
- Innovative injectable medications and medical devices.
- Tools to treat severe pain wherever you are.
Diagnostic evaluation
To diagnose headaches and rule out other medical conditions, your neurologist may perform or order the following:
- Headache history — Your doctor will ask you questions about your headaches, including when they started, how often they occur, how long they last, how they feel, and where the pain is located. Your doctor may ask you to complete a migraine/headache log and bring it with you to your appointment to assist with diagnosis, management and insurance requirements for treatment options.
- Neurological exam — During a neurological exam, your doctor will evaluate your thinking and memory skills, as well as your balance, motor skills, and reflexes.
- Imaging tests — Your doctor may order imaging exams, such as an x-ray, MRI or CT scan, to check for problems that could be causing your headaches.
- Blood and urine tests — These tests can identify signs of health problems using small samples of your blood and urine.
Headache treatments
Treatment for headaches depends on the specific cause, your symptoms, and the severity of your condition.
Depending on your condition, your doctor may recommend one or more treatments, including:
- Botulinum toxin (Botox) injections — If you have chronic migraines, your neurologist may recommend Botox injections to dull headache pain or prevent future headaches. Botox injections are given in several areas of the head and neck and are repeated every 10 to 12 weeks.
- Cycle breakers — Cycle breaker drugs can break the pain of a headache that has continued for days. Your doctor can call or send in a prescription for various drug options. These drugs can break the headache cycle and keep you out of the ER.
- Lifestyle and nutrition changes — Some types of headaches are caused by stress, changes in sleep patterns, certain foods, medical conditions, or other triggers. Your doctor may recommend lifestyle or nutrition changes such as reducing stress, getting plenty of sleep, or limiting certain foods or beverages to help you avoid headache triggers and manage symptoms.
- Medications — Your doctor may recommend over-the-counter or prescription medications or supplements to relieve headache pain or prevent headache recurrence.
- Nerve blocks — The goal of a nerve block is to block pain signals coming from the nerves of the head and neck. Pericranial nerve blocks are for migraine and cluster headaches. The shots target the seven main branches of the pericranial nerves in the scalp. Doctors generally use nerve blocks as needed, but some people get them every three months. The shots are quick and safe.
- Oxygen therapy for cluster headaches — An oxygen tank and face mask at home can relieve a cluster headache. When you inhale pure oxygen, it reduces blood flow to the brain. This works quickly to stop the pain. We may use oxygen therapy with a sumatriptan shot for quick pain relief.
- Trigger point shots — Trigger point shots treat migraine, cluster, and tension headache pain caused by muscle tension. At UPMC, your doctor tailors the dose and placement to your pain.
What Can I Expect?
At UPMC, our caring specialists include board-certified neurologists and specially-trained advanced practice providers who understand that frequent headaches can affect your quality of life and make it difficult for you to perform everyday activities.
Our neurology specialists will provide you with an accurate diagnosis and create a personalized treatment plan that uses the latest therapies to relieve headache pain and reduce headache duration and frequency.
If your headaches are caused by another medical condition, our team members will work closely with other health care providers to coordinate your care and help you manage headache symptoms.
Why Choose UPMC for Headache Services?
When you choose the UPMC for your headache care, you will receive access to:
- Specialty headache care — Our neurologists have board-certified training in the subspecialty of headache medicine.
- Treatment from experienced providers — We're one of the largest headache specialty programs in the U.S. We train future and new brain doctors in headache medicine through our residency and fellowship programs. The United Council on Neurological Subspecialties has accredited our fellowship.
- Clinical trials and research — Our doctors work on National Institutes of Health-funded research to bring you the latest advances in headache medicine.
By UPMC Editorial Staff. Last reviewed on 2026-03-04.
