In teh waiting room of the Cephale Emergency Center, located on the third floor of the lariboisière AP-HP Hospital in Paris’s 10th arrondissement, Dinesh sat hunched on his chair, his face contorted in a grimace of pain. His fingers repeatedly hammered his head, a silent testament to his suffering. A muffled cough broke the tense silence,causing Dinesh to flinch. His leg jiggled, and he exhaled sharply, gripping the arm of the young woman beside him. She rose and approached the medical secretary, whispering, “Madam, excuse me, but my father, he is really not well. He tells me his headache is getting worse, I think you have to do something…” She gestured towards the man in his fifties, who, despite not speaking French, attempted to convey his agony by mimicking a knife being plunged into his eye with a trembling hand.
Dinesh was not alone in his distress. Many others, looking equally defeated, were waiting that morning in the sparsely decorated waiting room. Spanning a few tens of square meters with its green lighting, this center is the only one in France dedicated to the treatment of headaches. Largely unknown to general practitioners and the public alike, this specialized unit sees approximately 35 patients experiencing severe headaches each day, offering them a crucial chance to finally receive a diagnosis.
