Our integrative approach to headache pain blends traditional medicine with complementary therapies to help reduce the frequency and severity of chronic headaches.

Diagnosing Headaches
Blood tests, lab studies and other diagnostic tools can't always confirm headache pain. To determine the type and severity of your headache pain, our specialists will also conduct physical or neurological exams. They will gather personal and family medical histories that focus on previous treatments and recurring symptoms. If necessary, neurodiagnostic testing and lab studies will be ordered to rule out other medical causes of headache.

Treatment Options
Once a chronic headache diagnosis is established, we work with you and your primary care physician to develop an outpatient treatment plan that meets your needs. This can include:

• Lifestyle modification and health education programs, such as nutrition counseling and exercise consultations
• Biofeedback and counseling
• Stress management
• Relaxation and stretching exercises
• Acupuncture and acupressure
• Physical therapy
• Massage therapy, including therapeutic aquatic massage
• Therapeutic yoga
• Nerve blocks and trigger point injections
• Prescription medication

Outpatient treatment is effective for most patients. However, severe or debilitating headache pain that does not respond to outpatient therapy may require hospitalization. This is handled on an individual basis by our Medical Director in close consultation with the patient's primary care physician.

Additional information on several of the complementary therapies noted above is available through the Johnstown-based Integrative Medicine Advisory Council (IMAC).

The Headache Team
Our team combines the expertise of neurologists, pain management specialists, registered nurses, physical therapists, nutrition counselors, stress management experts and other health care professionals trained in headache care.  Physicians who specialize in headache care include:

Sharon Plank, MD, LAc

Contact Us
All outpatient headache services, including chronic pain management and physician appointments, are provided at:

John P.  Murtha Neuroscience and Pain Institute
1450 Scalp Avenue
Johnstown, PA 15904
(814)269-5061

Please call us for more information or to schedule an appointment.