Contact us first, tell us what the headache is doing, and we will get you in. The point of the clinic is that treatment which only works during an attack is only useful if you can be seen during one.
Why this exists
Most headache care is either too slow or too shallow. Neurology waiting lists run to months. An emergency department will stop an attack without ever naming what caused it — you wait among higher-acuity patients, you are usually treated by a clinician who does not manage headache disorders day to day, and the visit often ends with a shot and a referral rather than a plan.
The gap in between is where most people with a severe recurring headache actually live.
Getting in
Call (314) 464-7162 or text (314) 886-5902. Please contact us before coming in, so the right treatment and the right room are ready when you arrive.
Hours are Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Saturday 8:00 a.m. to noon. The twelve-hour weekday span is deliberate: a headache that starts at six in the evening is still treatable the same day.
What to bring
- Every medication you have taken for this headache in the past month, including anything over the counter. How often you have been treating is one of the most useful facts you can give us, and it changes what we do — see medication-overuse headache.
- Any imaging report of the head or neck.
- Your attack pattern if you have it — times, durations, which side.
- If you do not know your diagnosis, that is what the visit is for.
What can happen in one visit
- IV migraine therapy for an attack that has not broken with oral medication, or where vomiting makes swallowing pointless
- High-flow normobaric oxygen for a cluster attack, which works within minutes when delivered correctly
- An occipital nerve block or SPG block, both done without sedation
- A diagnosis, if you arrived without one
Every injection is placed under ultrasound or fluoroscopic guidance, which is what makes a block that does not work into useful information rather than a possible miss.
Where we are
4477 Woodson Rd, Suite 205, St. Louis, MO 63134 — on Woodson Road immediately south of St. Louis Lambert International Airport, minutes from I-70. Parking is free and on site, every entrance is handicap accessible and at ground level, and there is a full-size elevator.
That access detail matters more than it sounds. People arriving mid-attack are often nauseated, light-sensitive and unsteady, and frequently someone else has driven them. Short walk, flat entry, and an elevator that fits both of you.
We serve the St. Louis region, Missouri and Illinois.
When we will send you elsewhere
If your presentation suggests something dangerous, we will tell you plainly and send you to an emergency department. Headache Express is an outpatient clinic, not an emergency room. Thunderclap onset, fever with a stiff neck, any weakness, numbness, trouble speaking, vision loss or confusion, or a headache after a head injury all need emergency assessment — call 911. See headache red flags.
Who treats you
Dr. Gurpreet Singh Padda, MD, MBA, MHP, an interventional pain physician board certified in anesthesiology, pain medicine, interventional pain, addiction medicine and obesity medicine, licensed in Missouri and Illinois. He has lived with chronic cluster headache himself since the age of 17.
Common questions
Do I need a referral?
No. Contact us directly by phone, text or the form on our contact page.
Can I really be seen the same day?
That is what the clinic is built around, and the twelve-hour weekday span exists for it. Contact us first rather than arriving unannounced, so the treatment is ready when you get here. See contact.
What about insurance?
We will verify your benefits and, where a treatment needs prior authorization, we will attempt to obtain it. An authorization confirms a service meets criteria for review; it is not a guarantee of payment. Payment is due at the time of service. See contact.
What if I don’t know what kind of headache I have?
That is a normal reason to come. Start by reading migraine or cluster headache and bring whatever pattern you can describe.
Do you treat anything besides headache?
Yes — head and neck cancer pain and persistent pain after dental treatment, both of which run through the same nerves.
Being seen at Headache Express. We treat migraine, cluster and other severe headaches in St. Louis, usually the same day. Please contact us before coming in so the right treatment is ready when you arrive.
A note on coverage, and on timing. Same-day treatment and prior authorization do not run on the same clock. Many insurers take days to weeks to decide, and some acute headache treatments are not covered at all. Your headache will not wait for that process.
We will verify your benefits and, where a treatment needs prior authorization, we will attempt to obtain it. An authorization confirms that a service meets criteria for review — it is not a guarantee of payment, and no clinic can make that promise on your insurer’s behalf. Where something is unlikely to be covered, or cannot be certified in time to treat you today, we will tell you before we treat rather than after, so the decision is yours. Payment is due at the time of service.