TENS unit and headaches..neckpain?

[skamper]

I am now 6 months post op after a 7 hour translab surgery.  I did great after surgery and am getting around pretty much like a "normal" person.  As normal as a person who had their head cut open 
Anyways, this last month I have been getting more and more headaches and they are more intense.  I have not refilled my pain meds that I was taking at night.  The last time I refilled them, I noticed the doctor had decreased the dose and the amount I was given.  I'm assuming he must be thinking 6 months is long enough, she needs to go off of them.  I just take tylenol and advil now.  I am waking each morning with such a head pain, some days I just want to stay in bed all day.  I do work, so it's not really an option for me.  This week the headaches for at their worst.  I chalk it up to being so active and busy this week.  I usually can come home from a full day at work and lay down for an hour or two.  This week was not the case.  I didn't get a nap or rest period in the whole week.  This has not happened since my surgery.  By last night, I was so drained and head was so sore, I wanted to cry.  All I had was advil and an ice pack.  I've read where some of you are mentioning a tens unit.  I have one and just want to know if that helps?
If the tens unit does help, where are you placing the pads?  I have a titanium plate and so a post where someone said you couldn't use the tens with that.  That sounds so strange. 
I would love to ease these pains without constantly taking the meds.  If anyone is using a tens, please help me know where to place the pads and all.  The pain is usually directly over the AN site and down my neck.  It's not so much a headache, as in migraine or sinus, it's an actual throbbing, like a stabbing pain.
I hate how debilitating these stupid things can make me.  I have three young, beautiful daughters who always see me in bed or don't see me because I need a nap.  I would love to be able to do more with them.
Thanks for any help or suggestions.  I'm off to a dance meeting for my one daughter.  Wish me luck that I can't make it through the meeting with no bouts of head pain 
Susan

[Captain Deb]

Susan,
I use a Tens unit on my neck and shoulder--the pads shouldn't be used on the head. A lot of the time my migraines start in my neck and sometimes this helps.

At 6 months post op, and your headaches increasing, you sound like a lot of us here who were doing fairly well at first and gradually getting worse when we should have been getting better.  You should consider seeking help at a headache clinic or pain clinic with a pain management specialist.  Surgeons are not trained in managing long term pain, which, if you are 6 months post-op and getting worse, is what you have. There are many alternatives to pain meds--preventive meds, nerve blocks, Botox among them.  Start keeping a headache journal that includes your pain level on a scale of 1--10 and the time of day it occurs, what you took for it, what you ate, stresses and activity levels.  It can take a while to get an appt at a pain clinic or headache clinic, but keeping a journal can give the specialist a lot of information.

Capt Deb

[skamper]

Thanks Deb, I will start my journal tomorrow.  It will be very interesting to see what is triggering them.  I might just try the tens unit tomorrow if I get one again.  Today was another bad day, it feels better now since I took the advil and ice pack.  I was also able to get in an hour nap this afternoon, laying down for a little while always seems to help.
Thanks for the advice on a pain doc.  My dad goes to one, I might have to just look into it.
Susan