Brief Answer:
Possible myeloproliferative disorder.

Detailed Answer:
Dear,
Thanks for contacting us for your health concern...

After reviewing your health query, I'm of the following opinion:

1. All your mentioned symptoms indicate towards increased blood problem, i.e. there is increased viscosity (thickness) of the blood, causing deranged microcirculation resulting in facial plethora, neck pain, and headaches.

2. Seek an opinion of a Pathologist/ Hematologist or Medicine specialist since this condition is more in people living in high altitudes, and chronic smokers (present in your history, given in another question asked to a different Doctor).

3. Also, high hematocrit can contribute to systemic hypertension ( as you have controlled hypertension with drugs), thus high hematocrit levels interfere with the vasodilatory effect of nitric oxide, and can cause high blood pressure.

4. As the condition predisposes to the blood clot, check with your Coagulation Profile: INR (international normalized ratio), CT (clotting time), PT (prothrombin time), BT (bleeding time), PC (platelet count).

5. Your Physician can also ask for Biopsy of the bone marrow to exclude any myeloproliferative syndrome suggestive of Polycythemia vera, and for MRI Brain to exclude any other cause of headache.

6. In the meantime, to alleviate your symptoms you can go for 'therapeutic phlebotomy ' (if your symptoms are disease-specific), or you can choose cupping (bloodletting) only if other possibilities mentioned are excluded since only when we have ruled out medical emergency, I can safely assure you to go with hijamma (wet cupping).

7. Please revert back with your clarifications.

Dr.Munish Sood
Consultant Physician
Naimittika

direct online link: bit.ly/drmunishsood

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