Migraines

It may start as a dull ache that gradually worsens or come on like gangbusters and stay that way for hours or days. About 16 million Americans suffer from migraines, severe headaches often accompanied by nausea and vomiting. A migraine can stop you dead in your tracks and lead you to wonder if your head is a body part you could manage just as well without.

Migraines are caused by a number of different factors, from skipping meals to eating certain foods such as cheeses and chocolate. Alcohol, caffeine and food additives can also trigger migraines. And migraines can be a side effect of certain prescription drugs, including oral contraceptives and some high blood pressure medications. Ask your doctor whether your medication might be to blame. The natural remedies in this chapter?in conjunction with medical care and used with the approval of your doctor?may help prevent migraines or reduce their severity, according to some health professionals.

Acupressure

The Gates of Consciousness points, GB 20, can relieve migraine headaches as well as neck pain, says Michael Reed Gach, Ph.D., director of the Acupressure Institute in Berkeley, California, and author of Acupressure?s Potent Points. Dr. Gach says to use the thumbs of both hands to press the GB 20 points, which are situated two inches out from the middle of your neck, underneath the base of the skull. (To help locate these points, refer to the illustration on page 565.) He suggests sitting in a chair and bending over, with your elbows propped on a table or desk, to make holding these points most comfortable. Breathe deeply and press firmly for one to two minutes.

Aromatherapy

To ease the pain of a migraine, surround yourself with the healing aroma of the essential oil rosemary, says Victoria Edwards, an aromatherapist in Fair Oaks, California. If you?re at home, says Edwards, massage your face and neck with a solution of ten drops of rosemary essential oil per ounce of carrier oil, which is available in most health food stores, and use a few drops of rosemary in a diffuser or an aroma lamp to create a soothing atmosphere. If you?re on the road, she suggests applying a drop or two to a tissue and inhaling. ?Rosemary, especially rosemary verbenon, also has a balancing effect on the liver and gallbladder, which tend to be sluggish in people who get migraines,? says Edwards.

For information on preparing and administering essential oils, including cautions about their use, see page 19. For information on purchasing essential oils, refer to the resource list on page 633.

Flower Remedy/Essence Therapy

?People prone to migraines often have a hard time dealing with anger,? says Eve Campanelli, Ph.D., a holistic family practitioner in Beverly Hills, California. Such people may benefit from the Bach remedy Gentian, which helps balance out the hopelessness and frustration that can lead to migraines.

Flower remedies are available in some health food stores and through mail order (refer to the resource list on page 635). For information on preparing and administering flower remedies, see page 37.

Food Therapy

?A lot of migraines are food-related,? says Michael A. Klaper, M.D., a nutritional medicine specialist in Pompano Beach, Florida, and director of the Institute of Nutritional Education and Research, an organization based in Manhattan Beach, California, that teaches doctors about nutrition and its relationship to disease. ?In my experience, dairy products are the biggest trigger, followed by poultry, including eggs. Then come chocolate, wheat products and beef. You?ll know your trigger by noticing when you get a migraine. If you have a big glass of milk and get a migraine within an hour, it?s likely dairy that?s causing it.?

His solution: ?Try to stick with a vegetarian-based diet without food additives such as monosodium glutamate, artificial sweeteners and food colorings. If you get rid of all of the trigger foods, processed foods and synthetic additives, you can often end migraines.? Dr. Klaper recommends avoiding red wine, tea, unrefined cider and other beverages that contain tannin, another major trigger. Also, he says, try to eat foods high in magnesium content, such as spinach and other dark green leafy vegetables, whole grains, cashews and soybeans. Magnesium relaxes muscles in the walls of blood vessels, including those running to the brain, which may help prevent migraines, says Dr. Klaper. (For other food sources of magnesium, see ?Getting What You Need? on page 142.)

Herbal Therapy

Scientific studies show that the herb feverfew can reduce the frequency and severity of migraine headaches, says Varro E. Tyler, Ph.D., professor of pharmacognosy at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. That?s because parthenolide, the plant?s active ingredient, inhibits the brain chemicals that dilate blood vessels and cause a migraine, he explains.

Feverfew will work effectively only if you take it every day?not just when you get a migraine?and only if you take enough of it, according to Dr. Tyler. This is because feverfew functions mainly a preventive, so it won?t help much once you already have a migraine, he explains. The recommended dosage is a daily supplement of 125 milligrams, he says, and the supplement must contain at least 0.2 percent parthenolide. Check the labels on feverfew products to make sure the product you choose contains parthenolide and follow the dosage recommendations on the label, he adds. Feverfew supplements are available in most health food stores.

Hydrotherapy

Contrast showers can sometimes head off a migraine, suggests Agatha Thrash, M.D., a medical pathologist and co-founder and co-director of Uchee Pines Institute, a natural healing center in Seale, Alabama. She suggests a brief hot shower followed by a slightly longer cold shower every morning and any time during the day that you feel a migraine coming on. Place your entire body, including your head, under the hot water until the skin reddens. Switch to cold water and stay under until you start shivering.

When migraines don?t respond to any other treatment, a hot enema can provide temporary pain relief, says Dr. Thrash. Enemas work on what is called the gate theory of pain control, she says. ?Immediately after an enema, there are so many impulses traveling up to the brain that pain impulses are temporarily crowded out.? In many cases, an enema provides relief long enough to help you fall asleep, she says. For instructions, see ?How to Perform an Enema? on page 76.

Imagery

Imagine there is a control room in your mind that regulates all of your bodily functions. Find the valve that regulates blood flow to your right hand and open up that valve. Feel the sensation of blood rushing out of your head and into your right hand. As the blood travels down your right arm, notice how the pain of your migraine diminishes, says Dennis Gersten, M.D., a San Diego psychiatrist and publisher of Atlantis, a bi-monthly imagery newsletter. He recommends practicing this imagery for six to ten minutes twice a day.

Juice Therapy

Celery juice is rich in coumarins, substances that have a soothing effect on the vascular system and that may benefit those prone to migraines, says naturopathic physician Michael Murray, N.D., author of The Complete Book of Juicing. Fresh celery juice may be drunk alone or combined with other vegetable juices, such as carrot, cucumber, parsley and spinach. Dr. Murray says to drink an eight-ounce glass of the juice twice a day as a preventive, in conjunction with proper medical treatment.

For information on juicing techniques, see page 93.

Relaxation and Meditation

Thermal biofeedback can help redirect blood flow out of dilated blood vessels in the scalp and ease migraine pain, says Steven Fahrion, Ph.D., director of research at the Life Sciences Institute of Mind-Body Health in Topeka, Kansas. To learn more about this simple ten-minute technique, see page 121.

See also Headache