1A In Good Health: Why Headaches Are Misunderstood
Nov 26, 2025
Tom Zeller Jr., an author and journalist on science topics, shares his intense struggles with cluster headaches, detailing their life-altering nature. Dr. Amal Starling, a Mayo Clinic neurologist, explains the different types of headaches and the specific challenges in diagnosis and treatment. They discuss the social stigma surrounding migraines, particularly affecting women, and highlight funding gaps in headache research. Personal coping strategies, including innovative treatments and the role of psychedelics, round out this insightful conversation.
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Living With Constant Head And Facial Pain
- Hannah describes constant chronic facial pain and headaches that never stop and leave her exhausted and isolated.
- She says the pain limits vision and movement during flare-ups and has become her "new normal" after five years.
Cluster Headaches Come In Relentless Cycles
- Tom Zeller Jr. recounts cluster headaches as excruciating, like keeping your hand on a hot burner for hours without relief.
- He says they come in predictable clusters for months then remit, but always return unpredictably over years.
Headache Is A Symptom, Not A Diagnosis
- Amaal Starling compares the term "headache" to "fever": it's a symptom, not a diagnosis, and hides many distinct disorders.
- She stresses that head pain is only one symptom among many in primary headache disorders.
