Marie's story

I had two major cycling accidents in the 1980s which caused a spinal fracture and severe whiplash. 

I quickly got over the accidents and was fine until the early 1990s when I started to have migraines. This gradually progressed to daily migraines by 1996.  Over the next decade I tried a variety of treatment approaches including medication, physiotherapy, chiropractic, osteopathy, acupuncture, Chinese medicine, hypnotherapy, meditation and occipital nerve blocks.

In 2005 I went to the pain clinic at Royal North Shore Hospital and Professor Michael Cousins suggested implanting electrodes into the back of my head to send a current through the occipital nerves and so block their ability to send the pain signals that triggered migraines. 

The electrodes worked well and significantly reduced the number and severity of migraines but unfortunately they have become infected on two occasions and were removed and then later replaced once the infection had cleared. 

In 2006 I participated in the ADAPT pain management program at Royal North Shore Hospital which involves an intensive physiotherapy program of exercises, and a range of tools to help people live with persistent pain. 

You need to do the exercises each day and be disciplined about using the various tools but it greatly helps you to live a much more normal life, despite the pain.