{"id":11372,"date":"2022-10-13T09:44:15","date_gmt":"2022-10-13T08:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/?page_id=11372"},"modified":"2025-05-15T08:37:46","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T07:37:46","slug":"icepick-headache","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/neurology\/headache\/other-headaches\/icepick-headache\/","title":{"rendered":"Icepick Headache"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Information<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Icepick headaches<\/strong>, also known as&nbsp;<strong>primary stabbing headaches<\/strong>, are sudden, very painful headaches which come on suddenly and last for seconds at a time. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The headaches are described as \u2018<strong>stabbing<\/strong>\u2019 or \u2018<strong>jolting<\/strong>\u2019, and the patient may be quite disabled during the attack. &nbsp;The pain usually occurs around the eye or temple. &nbsp;There should be no other neurological symptoms. &nbsp;The headaches subside suddenly, and often recur irregularly, sometimes up to 50 times a day. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Who gets these headaches?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Adults, both male and female. &nbsp;They are rare in children or adolescents, and become more prevalent in middle age. &nbsp;They are more common in people with other headache disorders such as migraine or cluster headache.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>M.A &amp; J.S. 07-05-25<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs\" data-active-tab=\"0\"><ul class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-links\"><\/ul>\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Referral Guidelines<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Primary Care Management<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<p><strong>Investigations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Icepick headache itself is a benign condition and needs no tests. &nbsp;If you have never had a headache like this before however, you should consult your doctor, as other serious conditions causing headache need to be excluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Treatment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The headaches themselves are too short for treatment to be useful. \u00a0If the patient is having frequent, disabling headaches, then a tablet to prevent the attacks may be tried. \u00a0The medication most frequently used is Indometacin (75-150mg daily). <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Resources and Links<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Information Icepick headaches, also known as&nbsp;primary stabbing headaches, are sudden, very painful headaches which come on suddenly and last for seconds at a time. &nbsp; The headaches are described as &lsquo;stabbing&rsquo; or &lsquo;jolting&rsquo;, and the patient may be quite disabled during the attack. &nbsp;The pain usually occurs around the eye or temple. &nbsp;There should be<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":11363,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[839],"class_list":["post-11372","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-https-apps-testing28-scot-nhs-uk-refhelp-guidelines-icepick-headache"],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"heatherlevy","author_link":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/author\/heatherlevy\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":" <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/category\/neurology\/headache\/https-apps-testing28-scot-nhs-uk-refhelp-guidelines-icepick-headache\/\" rel=\"tag\">Icepick Headache<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Information Icepick headaches, also known as&nbsp;primary stabbing headaches, are sudden, very painful headaches which come on suddenly and last for seconds at a time. &nbsp; The headaches are described as &lsquo;stabbing&rsquo; or &lsquo;jolting&rsquo;, and the patient may be quite disabled during the attack. &nbsp;The pain usually occurs around the eye or temple. &nbsp;There should be","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11372"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24029,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11372\/revisions\/24029"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}