Episode 133 · February 27, 2024
Dr. Jaclyn Duvall has a heart for helping heads
with Dr. Jaclyn Duvall, Neurologist specializing in headache medicine; founder of Headache Specialists
30 min
Dr. Jaclyn Duvall has a heart for helping heads
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In this episode
In this episode I sit down with Dr. Jaclyn Duvall, a native Tulsan neurologist who specializes in headaches — and who has, as she puts it, a heart for helping heads. Jaclyn grew up watching her mother live with multiple sclerosis, and that experience planted an early, deep desire to help people. That calling carried her through the Medical Humanities Program, OU Medical School, and eventually a headache medicine fellowship at the prestigious Mayo Clinic, where she also wrote a book in her "spare time" while training and raising two little ones.
We get into something a lot of us carry quietly — those "sinus headaches" that keep coming back. Jaclyn explains the real difference between a headache and a migraine, and shares research suggesting that most of what we call sinus headache is actually migraine masquerading. If you've been white-knuckling through head pain while trying to get dinner on the table and take care of everyone but yourself, this one is for you.
I love that Jaclyn is so open about the personal side too — leaving Mayo to come home and serve the Tulsa community, opening her own practice, Headache Specialists, and making it a true family affair with her husband and kids sweeping floors right alongside her. It's a beautiful reminder that using your God-given gifts and talents sometimes means putting in the hard front-end work to build the freedom you're after. Keep going.
Key takeaways
- "Headache" isn't a diagnosis — it's an umbrella term for head pain. Doctors sort it into primary headaches (genetic/inherited, like migraine) and secondary headaches (caused by something else, like infection, stroke or tumor).
- What most people call sinus headache is often migraine in disguise. One large study found that about 88% of people who thought they had sinus headache actually had migraine.
- Migraine can cause "sinus-y" symptoms — congestion, tearing eyes, facial flushing, a runny nose — because of a bundle of nerves at the back of the nose tied to the brain's major migraine generator. That's why weather changes and allergens can trigger it.
- If you don't want to take a pill, there are options: natural supplements like magnesium and vitamin B2, nerve stimulator devices, and — when needed — newer migraine-focused medications that don't carry the old baggage of grogginess or brain fog.
- Migraine hits women of childbearing age hardest, and moms often put their own health last. It's the second most disabling disease in the world — but it's treatable, and you are not alone.
- Big goals get done in small blocks of time. Jaclyn wrote her book by dictating notes on runs, keeping a notepad by the bed, and tackling one chapter a month. Five focused minutes a day adds up.
- Building something of your own — like her practice, Headache Specialists — takes front-end sacrifice for back-end flexibility. She brought her whole family in on the decision so everyone understood the why.
“Just letting moms know that they're not alone, that what they're experiencing is the second most disabling disease in the world, and that there are treatments.”
“I made a point to walk through the patient entrance of the Mayo Clinic each day... you realize for that individual that's their one chance at the Mayo Clinic to get that quality health care.”
“We want it to work and you can take it at work, whatever your job may be, and maybe that's a stay at home mom. We want you to keep functioning through what you're doing.”
“There's never a good time so you just need to step out and try it.”
Resources mentioned
About Dr.
Neurologist specializing in headache medicine; founder of Headache Specialists
A native Tulsan, Dr. Jaclyn Duvall knew from an early age she wanted to help people — a passion shaped by growing up with a mother living with multiple sclerosis. She completed the Medical Humanities Program, attended OU Medical School, and pursued a headache medicine fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, where she also authored a book. She returned home to Tulsa to build a comprehensive headache referral center and, in January 2023, opened her own practice, Headache Specialists — a true family affair alongside her husband and two children.
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