This blog is for anyone who has experienced headaches who knows someone who lives with headpain or migraine.

(so basically, it’s for everyone). 

​

It is also for healthcare providers who care for patients with headache disorders and are looking for some easily digestible clinical pearls and commentary on management practices, treatments, and helpful resources.    

My name is Christie Tait. I’m a Nurse Practitioner in Toronto who specializes in headache management.   I love this work for so many reasons. I have the privilege of being part of a process that reduces the invisible suffering experienced by those with frequent headache or migraine attacks.   As a result, I witness the transformation that goes along with better pain control.  These individuals often revisit their passions, goals, and dreams. I am grateful that I can play a role in the improved quality of life that accompanies this.  

​

For you primary care providers out there - headaches are tough to manage.  It is not so much the process of arriving at a primary headache diagnosis, it’s the time it takes to elicit an accurate headache history and comprehensive management plan. It’s the time it takes to understand the lived experience of your patient, to collaboratively craft an evidence based treatment plan that can support realistic behavioural changes, establish an effective acute treatment plan, and understand when and what preventive medications should be started. It is all of these things.  

​

If there is one important thing I’ve learned about these patients, it’s this:

​

If their symptoms are significant enough to warrant mention in your clinic, there is probably a bigger story about the impact this headache and associated symptoms are having on their life. Encourage an appointment dedicated to discussing their symptoms or consider an earlier referral to a headache specialist. It could have a profound impact on their life. 

​

Christie Tait obtained a Bachelor of Biological Science from the University of Guelph, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Toronto, and her Master of Nursing and Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioner Certificate from Toronto Metropolitan University.

Christie is the Founder and Director of Structure Clinic, Headache and Wellness Centre in Toronto.  She offers private consultations to individuals living with migraine or other headache disorders and can help to clarify diagnosis, prescribe appropriate medications, and optimize lifestyle and non-medication based strategies to manage headache and migraine. 

​

Christie is member of the Canadian Headache Society, the American Headache Society, and Scientific Committee member for Migraine Canada.  She has developed accredited educational programming for Canadian Healthcare Providers and delivers education nationally and internationally on the topic of migraine diagnosis and treatment.