When they miss work due to illness, Maureen Moriartys patients typically wont mention that theyre suffering from a migraine. In many ways its still not socially acceptable to call in with a headache, says Moriarty, DNP, even though one in eleven Americans a total of 23 million people suffer from migraine headaches.
Common symptoms can include:
throbbing, pulsating pain
light and sound sensitivity
nausea
pain on one side
blurred vision.
The nurse practitioner says two out of three patients are women and the disorder reaches peak intensity between the ages of 30 and 45, typically a persons most-productive years. Despite being a common health issue, most doctors and nurses have limited training in headache.
Moriarty originally expected to work as a nurse practitioner in a medically underserved, rural area, but began her career working with an internist at Johns Hopkins who specialized in headache.
I really enjoyed it, and have now been working in this medically underserved pain population for 30 years, she says.
In addition to her practice, she directs The Bridge, a national education initiative sponsored by the American Headache Society for nurse practitioners and physician assistants.
Moriarty joined Marymounts faculty in 2015 as an associate professor of nursing and is the graduate chair for nursing at the Malek School for Health Professions. She also directs the Doctor of Nursing Practice program and RN-BSN programs. In November 2017 she was the first nurse practitioner named a fellow in the AHS.
She offers several tips to help mitigate headache:
Wake up and go to bed at the same time every day
Have consistent mealtimes
Get daily aerobic exercise, even if only 20 minutes of walking
Avoid certain foods, such as chocolate, cheese and alcohol
Limit caffeine intake
For more invitation, visit americanheadachesociety.org.