Have you ever heard of this?

Nurses General Nursing

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Ok, so I've just started my job on a busy floor, and for the past 4-5 weeks I've been getting awful migraines at work and after work... Well i figured it was all just from stress, until I talked to an older nurse when she shared this tidbit. She also suffers from migraines and says that the stethoscope being around her neck is what causes them... Now I totally thought she was nuts, so another RN chimed in and said it was the same way for her.... so I tried this. I started getting a headache the first 3 hours and after i took the stethoscope off from around my neck, it went away... and no sign since...

have you EVER heard anything like this before?!? its NUTS!! :eek::idea:

Specializes in Addiction, Psych, Geri, Hospice, MedSurg.
I've known people who would get a headache if they wore a headband to hold back their hair.

Oh - this happens to me allllll the time. One reason I cut my hair off!!! It is amazing how bad the h/a's can get from a ponytail.

Now that i am growing my hair long again, I've had to find alternate ways to hold my hair up so I do not get those awful headaches.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

I sometimes wonder if migraines are really pain from a pinched nerve in the neck with referred pain to the eye side of head. The migraine triggers points are along the TMJ nerve. Botox seems to help by stopping muscle spasms.

Neck pain from a pinched nerve can also show up as upper back pain and shoulder and even arm pain.

I don't have the answers just questions and curiosity from a fellow migraine sufferer.

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Specializes in pediatrics, public health.
I would get hot and sweaty if I had my steth around my neck. (I know, I'm crazy), but that is one reason why I buy cherokee work scrubs. My steth goes in my leg pocket. Their scrubs have soooo many nice little pockets everywhere! I loose stuff all the time!! LOL

Yeah, I never got headaches from having my stethoscope around my neck, but I got a rash that almost felt like a burn -- took several weeks to develop and when I first noticed it, I thought my neck was sunburned. Took me a little while to put two and two together and realize it was caused by my stethoscope. I switched to scrubs with a big leg pocket for my stethoscope too, and the rash/burn went away.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Geriatric, Hospice.
Yes, you have a nerve in the back of your neck that causes occipital neuralgia (mimics migraines) when compressed. Happened to me all the time before I stopped wearing my stethoscope.

This. I was thinking the constant "sensory input" from the scope sitting there for hours would eventually result in some neurologic-type pain.

This happens to me with even the loosest pair of sunglasses. After 15 mins or so, my temporal area starts to ache and if I don't take off the glasses, I will get a major headache at the top of my head. And this is with glasses who put virtually no pressure on the sides of my head!

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Specializes in NICU.

I just today had a lightbulb moment about my stethoscope causing my headaches! So I googled it and found this thread í ½í¸Š I thought I was going crazy lol I couldn't figure out why I got a headache after a few hours every single time!

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Specializes in Postpartum, Med Surg, Home Health.
I sometimes wonder if migraines are really pain from a pinched nerve in the neck with referred pain to the eye side of head. The migraine triggers points are along the TMJ nerve. Botox seems to help by stopping muscle spasms.

Neck pain from a pinched nerve can also show up as upper back pain and shoulder and even arm pain.

I don't have the answers just questions and curiosity from a fellow migraine sufferer.

I was working in settings where I didn't need to wear a stethoscope around my neck or have on me at all times. Now I do work in such a setting..and definitely do have pain from wearing the stethoscope. My neck starts hurting, my upper back as well. I do have back issues to begin with, but I noticed I get the pain 100% of the time, shortly after I wear my scope around my neck. My scope is an expensive and light one as well, so weight doesn't matter much to me, it's just the pressure of something being there. (And yes I have the same issue with constricting clothing or bathing suit even) So now as soon as I do my assessments, that bad boy gets taken off and I keep it at the nursing station.

To the person who said this is an old wives tale...trust me when I say it most surely is NOT.

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