Don’t endure headaches, they can be treated
Although it seems that a headache is easily taken care of with painkillers, one of Estonia’s most renowned neurologists, Dr Toomas Toomsoo, says it is much more complex: just as there is no specific cause for headaches, there are no universal medications that can get rid of it.
Who of us has not had a headache, a numb arm or leg, or become anxious with the fear of dying because of a serious brain disorder, right?
„If in everyday life it is said that all roads lead to Rome, then the medical paraphrasing can be that all roads lead to the nervous system – whether now or in the future, a neurological consultation will be required by almost any human,“ Dr Toomsoo explains.
„Neurology is the medical aristocracy“
„My goal as a physician is to find the disease. Or the opposite, to help people to understand they do not have a neurological disease. And if there is disease, then I will find the method in which to treat it that brings relief to the patient with the least amount of pain, “ Dr Toomsoo explains his everyday fundamental beliefs.
What makes a neurologist a good doctor? „It is most important that a doctor knows how to communicate with a patient and knows how to get them to talk,“ the doctor believes, who is able to comunicate in Estonian, Russian, English as well as in German.
Headaches are a passion
One of Dr Toomsoo’s passions is headaches. The are many reasons for headaches to occur and a doctor can only help a patient if (s)he can get them to communicate and to describe what the headache feels like. Toomas Toomsoo is very good at asking questions and knows how to listen - no patient will leave without being helped.
"There is mostly a treatment for any type of headache and a life without pain is much more enjoyable than living with pain. No one should be left alone with a headache and to just bear it," the experienced doctor explains, who has graduated from the University of Tartu from the Faculty of Medicine, completed a neurology residency in both Estonian and German hospitals, and is in the process of acquiring a doctorate at the neurological clinic from the University of Tartu and the University of Tuebingen from the Brain Research Centre.
During his free time, the doctor enjoys his time with his son and wife. „Tatjana is also a doctor, an endocrinologist. We have a son who has many interests and is probably more enterprising than both my wife and I put together,“ smiles the doctor and adds that their family includes Milo, their dog, whose company brings pure joy.
The family has shared interests in travelling, reading, tennis, music and – that’s right! – computer apps. The Toomsoos predominantly spend their summers in their country home in Hiiumaa. „We pride ourselves in being summer Hiiu islanders,“ says the doctor.
„I love to eat well, but I don’t like to actually make the food. I love to enjoy a good white wine along with my dinner, and my favourites are dry Rieslings from Germany,“ explains Dr Toomsoo about his interests outside of work.