The education seminar at Wits University will include a talk from Dr Manney Orelowitz a consulting neurologist from Jozi who specializes in headache diagnosis and treatment. He will be discussing the warning signs for life threatening headaches. Dr Elliot Shevel the medical director of The Headache Clinic and chairman of the SA Headache Society will be giving a talk on the importance of having safe and effective procedures to relieve the extreme symptoms of chronic headache. A demonstration of simple stretching exercises by Nita Hargovan (a physiotherapist who specializes in headache treatment) and how this can help headache sufferers to ease the pain of headache. Other topics to be covered are the different types of headaches. Why taking over the counter medication is bad for you and how complementary therapies and lifestyle changes can benefit headache sufferers.
About 20% of the population gets a headache sometime in their life - that means over a billion people worldwide at some point get headaches. This percentage has been shown to be constant across races, cultures and income groups. Headache does not discriminate. In SA, a country of 49 million people this equates to about 10 million headache sufferers of all races, colours, creeds, and income groups.
Dr Elliot Shevel says "Despite the fact that headache is such a common condition, many people usually suffer in silence. Often they do not seek help, believing that their headache will not be taken seriously, or wrongly believing that there is nothing that can be done to help. We hope this Headache Clinic event will encourage people to stop suffering in silence. They can come along to a friendly and informal evening, learn more about the condition and pick up practical tips and advice. They will also have the opportunity to share their experiences with other local people affected which is an important part of the day."
The education seminar will be taking place on 30 June at the Linder Auditorium on the Wits University Education Campus (27 St Andrew's Road, Parktown in Johannesburg) 6.30pm for 7pm.
Pre-booking is essential as space is limited. For more information and to book a place, call The Headache Clinic on +27 (0) 861 678 911 or email az.oc.cinilcehcadaeh@eel.
