Headache Relief

Overview of Headache Treatment Options

Infections are easy. You can do a test to see what the bug is, then you can test an antibiotic on it to see if it will kill the bug and then you can end the infection with that treatment. Not so with headache. For the majority of headaches, there is no laboratory or radiology test to determine the kind of headache it is, nor is there a way to know which treatment will work. I have seen two patients who describe their head pain almost identically yet what works for one does not work for the other, and vice versa. It can be confusing and frustrating for everyone involved.

What constitutes an effective treatment? Any intervention that improves the headache in terms of frequency, severity, or duration, without unwelcome side effects, has value. So the term treatment is not limited to any particular modality and may include medications, bodywork, complementary medicine, counseling, and education. So long as I am confident a therapeutic approach is safe for the patient, I am open to it, and feel my patients should be as well. Rejecting all prescription medicines makes about as much sense as rejecting biofeedback or herbal remedies. In almost every case, it comes down to ignorance and prejudice and can be overcome by education and information. This is a place where the internet can be of enormous help or hindrance, depending upon the veracity of the source.

My approach to treatment plans breaks into three categories: Rescue – treatment when a headache is staring you in the face, Prevention- treatments aimed at keeping headaches from developing, and Lifestyle Modification – strategies to identify, modify, and eliminate triggers that can contribute to headache. For most patients some attention to each of these categories is necessary and there are many options. Detailed descriptions of the various modalities are included in the pages that follow, as well as descriptions of the many different pharmaceutical agents that have been helpful in selected patients.

Whether complementary approaches are appropriate for a particular patient depends on the patient, diagnosis, insurance and financial issues, practitioner skill and experience and so forth. Similarly, relatively few medications are actually FDA-approved for migraine rescue or prevention, so most applications are off-label. In general, western and complementary medicines can be intergrated together in a treatment plan, but all plans should be developed and discussed with your treatment team.