Alternative therapies for chronic headaches

Taking an alternate route

Before beginning a self-healing process, you need to rule out the possibility of any serious condition that warrants further medical attention. If you're having chronic headaches, a visit to the doctor to rule out certain medical conditions is a good idea. Headaches accompanied by the following symptoms warrant immediate medical attention: confusion, convulsions or unconsciousness, pain in the eye or ear, slurred speech, blurred vision, numbness, memory loss, nausea, or fever.

Fortunately, organic headaches comprise less than 1% of all headaches, leaving most of us to suffer with nonorganic (benign) headaches. The pain, whether sharp and throbbing or just a dull ache, is often a result of conditions in other parts of the body. But because these problems affect the blood vessels and muscles near the head, the result is what we come to feel as a headache.

Developing a drug-free method of treatment

To start, it's a good idea to keep a journal of your headaches, recording how long they last and describing the type of pain and the possible triggers. This information will help illustrate any particular trends or patterns related to your headaches, and will help you decide which treatment or prevention tactic is best for you.

Keep in mind that complementary treatments may be frustrating at first, because most of them take longer to work than conventional medications and you may have to experiment with a number of approaches until you find something that works.

In his book, The Headache Alternative: A Neurologist's Guide to Drug-Free Relief (DTP, 1997), Alexander Mauskop suggests trying treatments for which you have a natural affinity, trusting your instincts, and understanding the powerful effect of the mind on any treatment.

Dietary and environmental approaches

If you discover from your journal that dietary or environmental factors seem to contribute to the severity of your headaches, then you might try removing the offending element. You might also want to consult the theories prescribed by other systems of medicine. Both Ayurveda and macrobiotics, for example, place a strong emphasis on dietary regimens, and following those recommendations may be helpful.

If environmental factors seem to be an issue, these can be adjusted by paying attention to lighting, changing the humidity or the temperature, checking for carbon monoxide, and making sure your workplace and/or home is free of chemicals you may be sensitive to.

Physical approaches

Body manipulation works on the theory that correcting structural and muscular problems allows the body to heal itself. Other mind-body methods can help you recognize how your own movements are contributing to headache pain and help you practice alternative ways of carrying your body.

Increasingly, insurers are willing to cover the costs of various types of bodywork. Massage, acupuncture, acupressure, yoga, reflexology, craniosacral therapy, the Alexander technique, Rolfing, and chiropractic manipulation are some methods that can help provide relief from headache pain.

Mind-body therapies

A 1995 conference sponsored by the Office of Alternative Medicine recommended that relaxation techniques, such as hypnosis, meditation, and biofeedback, are effective in treating a variety of chronic pain conditions, including headache.

But even traditional medical practitioners have become more accepting of the idea of a mind-body connection, and there are many techniques and therapies that use the willful and conscious mind to create specific changes in the body. Relaxation techniques, meditation, hypnotherapy, and traditional psychotherapy may all be useful in treating your headache.

In addition, some headache sufferers have found that energy-based practices such as therapeutic touch and Reiki are beneficial. These techniques operate on the principal that there is an invisible energy within all of us that can be accessed through a "laying on of hands." During the treatment, the healer directs this energy in the form of a healing intent from her mind to the mind of the headache sufferer.

Botanicals

The tradition of healing with herbs is a long one throughout many cultures. Today, our scientific tradition sees herbal remedies as analogous to drugs, and they are thought to work via chemical properties that affect the body biologically. In other words, you treat a disease by the use of an opposing agent. Naturopathic practitioners, however, hold the view that herbal remedies work with the body to stimulate its natural healing abilities.

Herbal remedies for headaches can consist of something as common as chamomile or ginger or a more esoteric treatment such as feverfew or white willow bark. Another botanical treatment is aromatherapy, which primarily uses essential plant oils with the purported effect occurring via the olfactory nerve. (Be sure to consult a physician, pharmacist, or other knowledgeable healthcare provider before taking any herbal remedies, to make sure you are not at risk for a drug-herb interaction and to make sure you are taking the appropriate dosage).

Homeopathy

According to the theory of homeopathy, disease symptoms are an outward expression of the healing mechanisms naturally available to the body. Rather than masking the symptoms with traditional medicine, homeopathic practitioners prescribe the use of remedies with effects that are similar to the symptoms of the disease. Derived from natural sources, either plant, animal or mineral, homeopathic remedies are thought to act as catalysts for the body's natural ability to heal itself.

Self-awareness

Becoming more self-aware is important when determining the cause of your headaches, and it is just as important during the treatment stage. Use a journal to track your relief quotient and to help decide if treatments should be modified. Don't be discouraged if the results are slow in coming. Ultimately, however, your own process of self-discovery can be as satisfying as the pain relief you achieve.

For more information about headaches, visit HealthGate's Headache Center.