DR. ELLIE CANNON: My wife is desperate for a cure for her ‘ice pick headaches’

Q: My wife suffers from ice pick headaches. She has had scans and visited doctors, but no one seems to know why they happen. I’m writing to you out of desperation. What can we do to help her?

Ice pick headache, also called a primary stabbing headache, causes an intense pain around the eye or on the side of the head that comes on suddenly.

The feeling lasts only a few seconds, but can occur up to 50 times a day. It is not known what causes them, but they can be caused by bright light or stress. They are more common in people who suffer from similar conditions, including migraines.

If this is the first time this happens, see a doctor for scans and an examination to ensure there is nothing more serious going on.

It is also wise to have an examination by a neurologist who specializes in this area, as ice pick headaches can be confused with things like cluster headaches, which have similar characteristics – a neurologist should be able to tell the difference between the two.

Because the pain of ice pick headaches is so fleeting despite being so severe, they are difficult to treat at the time. However, drugs including indomethacin can be used to prevent the attacks. Indomethacin is a painkiller that is also used as an anti-inflammatory for conditions such as arthritis.

Ice pick headaches can be disabling because they cause so much pain, and for this reason pain clinics will often recommend psychological support.

Q: I had a scan a few years ago to see if I had multiple sclerosis (MS), but nothing was found. I have suffered from extreme fatigue for ten years and my legs often feel sluggish and heavy. Recently I felt mild numbness and tingling down one side of my body. Is it still possible that I have MS?

MS is a neurological disease that can affect the brain, nerves and spinal cord and affects around 130,000 people in Britain. It occurs when the immune system turns against the body and attacks the protective covering around the nerves, the myelin sheath.

The damage this causes can lead to numbness or tingling in the face and body, extreme fatigue, blurred vision, walking problems, and even bladder control problems.

There are several types of the disease, although most people find that their symptoms come and go. Unfortunately, some people’s MS gets worse over the years, without any period of improvement.

It would be worth having a neurologist look at anyone who has had unexplained symptoms of nerve damage for a long time, despite the long wait to see an NHS specialist.

When diagnosing a patient with MS, a doctor first rules out other causes of nerve damage, such as a vitamin B12 deficiency. Another test would be a nervous system examination to see how well your reflexes are working, which may involve tapping the knee or bicep with a reflex hammer.

In some cases, an MRI scan can detect MS by detecting damage to the myelin sheaths of the nerves in the brain and spinal cord.

But someone can still have MS even if a scan doesn’t pick it up, because it may not affect all parts of the brain or be less visible if the areas of the brain are small or in the early stages. A neurologist may order other tests to help him diagnose MS, including a lumbar puncture – also called an epidural. This involves taking some fluid from around the spinal cord with a needle and syringe, which is then analyzed. A person’s eyes can also be tested to see if there is damage to the optic nerve, which can be an early sign of MS.

Q: In August, a huge 3-inch cyst was found on one of my ovaries and I was placed on an urgent list for surgery. But the doctors also discovered that I have long QT syndrome, which causes an irregular heartbeat, and now there seems to be a suggestion that I will not be suitable for surgery. What should I do?

The most important thing is that you don’t panic. Having to wait for surgery can be a good sign; Ovarian tumors can be aggressive, so you’ll usually be called in for surgery quickly if doctors think the cyst is cancerous.

Still, noncancerous ovarian cysts can be unbearable. The pressure from the cyst can also cause bloating and pelvic pain, as well as constipation or difficulty emptying the bladder.

Long QT syndrome is a rare condition in which the heart’s electrical system takes too long to charge between beats, which can lead to blackouts, palpitations and seizures. It’s usually something people have no idea about until they get an ECG – a simple test that records the electrical activity of the heart. The concern is that it is often associated with unexpected death in young adults who did not know they had it.

But knowing that someone has long QT syndrome means doctors can offer treatments to control it, such as beta blockers or a pacemaker.

Having the condition should not delay having surgery, but a cardiologist may be asked for their opinion if there is a risk of a person’s heart rate becoming dangerously irregular during surgery.

Anyone experiencing unexpected delays in obtaining care should contact their GP, who can check that everything is in order. Sometimes we notice that patients think they are on a waiting list, when in reality they are not.

Do you have a question for Dr. Ellie Cannon? Email DrEllie@mailonsunday.co.uk

Dr. Cannon cannot enter into personal correspondence and her responses must be placed in a general context.

Don’t have an NHS dentist anymore?

Devastating photos of a huge queue snaking outside a new NHS dentist in Bristol show just how desperate Britain’s dental crisis has become.

People regularly appear on my clinic list with toothaches or other problems, but GPs are not trained to treat such problems, so I have to send them away with little more than advice about painkillers.

The shortage of available appointments and high treatment costs have led some patients to resort to extreme measures – such as traveling abroad for care or having their own teeth extracted.

Have you or anyone you know relied on similarly extraordinary lengths? Or are you having trouble finding a dentist who can accept you as a patient? Please write to the address below and let me know.

There is no place for homeopathy

Amid reports of the King’s cancer diagnosis, I read a story about Dr. Michael Dixon, the head of the Royal Medical Household.

The GP would also be a fan of homeopathy – a treatment based on diluted substances. But when Dr Dixon’s position was made public last year, Buckingham Palace was quick to point out that he does not believe such alternatives can cure cancer.

We agree with each other in that respect. But I think homeopathy has no place in medicine at all, let alone for such a serious disease.

Every time I say this, there seems to be an outcry from “believers” on social media, outraged that I can dismiss what they see as essential therapy.

The fact is that there is no good evidence that homeopathy does anything, and it certainly has no place in cancer care. It is safer to use conventional medications.