Harry Potter’s Headache Diagnosed

The telling symptom pointing to “nummular headaches” (nummular: from Latin nummulus, diminutive of nummus, coin, probably from Greek nomimos, customary,” in reference to the coin-sized locality) is that every time Harry suffers from head pain it’s in a small spot in exactly the same place. Nummular headaches can be sparked by a head injury, like the one that led to Harry’s lightning bolt scar. Dr. Matthew Robbins, Assistant Professor of Neurology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Director of Inpatient Services at the Montefiore Headache Center, studied nummular headaches in dozens of real patients.  A telling sign of nummular headaches is the lesions that “have been described to occur in scalp regions of patients, although admittedly, none of these cutaneous lesions manifested in the shape of a lightning bolt,” the researchers explained in their article.

You may be wondering why experts spend their time diagnosing fictional characters.  It’s a good way to educate the public about a condition that can occur in children and often goes unrecognized, Robbins says:

“If you can get the word out to people who are suffering, it’s a positive thing. And we had some fun along the way.”

According to Neurologist Juan Pareja:

“Nummular headache (coin-shaped cephalgia) has an unusual distinct feature: it is characterized by mild-to-moderate pressure-like pain exclusively felt in a rounded or elliptical area typically 2–6 cm in diameter. Although any region of the head may be affected, the parietal area is the common localization of nummular headache, and is characterized by a variable combination of hypoethesia, dysesthesia, paresthesia or tenderness.”