Contact: Allison Elliott

Tarvez Tucker

Services provided by the Headache Clinic include evaluation and prevention, often combining appropriate prescription medications with referrals to physical and occupational therapy. An innovative service of the center is in-office intravenous infusion. A person gripped by a severe headache can bypass the emergency room in favor of receiving appropriate medication via IV in the comfort of the specialized infusion suite.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 21, 2005) -- Help is on the way for headache sufferers, who can turn now to the University of Kentucky HealthCare Headache Clinic. Offering preventative care as well as treatment for acute headache – usually with same-day appointments – the center is the first of its kind in Kentucky.

The UK HealthCare Headache Clinic is led by Dr. Tarvez Tucker, a neurologist who specializes in treating migraine headache and associated pain. According to Tucker, the definition of a migraine sufferer is broad.

“A migraine is a headache that disrupts your life,” said Tucker. “It may cause you to miss work or school, and your relationships may suffer. Many sinus or tension headaches are actually migraine. In fact, migraines have a variety of causes. The common thread is that they interfere with how you want to live.”

Tucker seeks to identify headache triggers and works with patients to keep headaches from negatively impacting their quality of life.

“For some people, that means treating headaches as they happen, while for others the best solution is to prevent attacks in the first place,” Tucker said.

Services provided by the Headache Clinic include evaluation and prevention, often combining appropriate prescription medications with referrals to physical and occupational therapy. An innovative service of the center is in-office intravenous infusion. A person gripped by a severe headache can bypass the emergency room in favor of receiving appropriate medication via IV in the comfort of the specialized infusion suite. The service is designed for those who wake up with migraine, enabling them to break the cycle of pain with an early morning treatment and to resume the rest of their daily activities with minimal interruption.

Every day, millions of Americans live with headaches. Violent headaches, called migraines, occur most often in women between the ages of 15 and 55. Their headaches are triggered by any of a variety of causes; light, noise, foods, stress, depression and family history are all common culprits. Many migraine sufferers are not aware that their headaches can be classified as migraine, or that there is help available.

Tucker is associate professor of neurology, UK College of Medicine, and directs the American Headache Society’s national education program for medical students. She graduated from Case Western Reserve Medical School in Cleveland, Ohio, and completed her residency at the University of California, San Francisco. She has been named one of America’s Best Doctors by her colleagues.

To arrange an appointment at the UK HealthCare Headache Clnic, patients or referring physicians should call UK Neurology at (859) 323-5661.