Dr. Maxim Bauer is a senior neurologist, Pain Medicine and Movement Disorders Fellow at Hadassah Medical Organization. Born in Lithuania, he attended the  Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Beer Sheva, Israel where he received a degree in biomedical engineering.  He received his medical degrees from  Technical University and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, both in Munich, Germany.  He completed his residency in neurology at Hadassah Hebrew University Medical School.

It happens to all of us: we’re going about our day and – boom! – we start to feel the onset of a headache. Should we take Tylenol or a nap? Will it get worse if we don’t do anything? What if it keeps happening every day? Is that cause for concern? When should we seek professional medical help?

All of those questions, and much more, are addressed in the latest episode of “Hadassah On Call.” Our guest this month is Dr. Max Bauer, a senior neurologist who just helped open a new headache clinic at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem.

“A migraine is the sixth most prevalent disorder in the world and the second leading cause of disability after back pain,” explained Dr. Bauer, who pointed out that there are around 200 different types of headaches – including the incredibly painful cluster headaches and thunderclap headaches. Patients with chronic headaches can come to the clinic for treatment where there is a suite of treatment options – including Botox injections, as well as cognitive behavioral therapy to help with the psychological stresses related to having constant headaches.

The interdisciplinary clinic – which consists of pain doctors, orthopedists, anesthesiologists, neurologists and more – is also seeing a high number of patients because of the after-effects of the pandemic. Around 50% of people who have recovered from COVID-19 will experience lingering headaches, according to Dr. Bauer. “It’s a new virus that no one knows what will be in two years, in five years, in 10 years,” he said. “We try to bring the patients back to full functionality, but no one knows what will be later. I hope the symptoms will just subside and the patients will return to their normal activity and normal health. But no one knows what's going to be.”

Most importantly, Dr. Bauer said, you shouldn’t just accept the fact that you get headaches. If you go to a general practitioner and he says, "Sorry, I cannot do anything," you should go to a headache specialist. “I think it's important not to miss the possible treatment.”

What else you’ll hear in this episode:

• How diet, nutrition and sleep are essential in preventing headaches
• New medical breakthroughs to help treat migraine headaches

Further learning

A guide to different types of headaches
Hadassah clinic tackles lingering effects of COVID-19

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Read a transcript of this episode.

“Hadassah On Call: New Frontiers in Medicine” is a production of Hadassah, The Women's Zionist Organization of America. Hadassah enhances the health of people around the world through medical education, care and research innovations at the Hadassah Medical Organization. For more information on the latest advances in medicine please head over hadassah.org.

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The show is hosted by Benyamin Cohen and edited by Skyler Inman and the team at the Hadassah offices in both New York and Israel.

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