If you are prone to headaches, chances are you were born with a slightly different brain chemistry than people who get don’t get them. You might have imbalances in the chemical serotonin, which is a messenger that helps regulate the diameter of blood vessels. Medical researchers now believe that in the majority of headaches, certain factors trigger fluctuations in serotonin levels. Once the serotonin is out of balance, the blood vessels in your brain become inflamed and you end up with a head that’s throbbing with pain.
More than 90 percent of all headaches are classified as tension headaches, which occur when the muscles in the back of your neck and scalp tighten. When you have a tension headache, you’ll probably feel a generalized dull head pain. That’s a signal that the nerves running through the muscles have become inflamed and irritated.
Migraines are another kind of animal. The pulsating throb of a migraine headache is less common but more likely to send you to the doctor in quest of relief. Migraines occur more often in women than in men and can last from a few minutes to a few days.
A third type, the cluster headache, is even more acute but also much more rare.
Whichever type of headache you’re prone to, chances are that the underlying cause is your genetic makeup. "We are clearly dealing with a biological disorder, not a psychological one," says Fred Sheftell, M.D., a psychiatrist, headache specialist, and co-founder of the New England Center for Headache in Stamford, Connecticut.
Pay Attention to Triggers
Just because you were born with a predisposition for headaches doesn’t mean that you have to get them, according to Dr. Sheftell. If you can avoid the pain triggers, you might be able to avoid the headaches.
Heading up Dr. Sheftell’s Top Ten list of triggers are sensitivities to foods such as chocolate, certain food components such as alcohol and caffeine, and the food additive MSG. Other possible triggers are hormone fluctuations during the menstrual cycle, changes in the weather or season, sleeping late or not enough, bright lights, and odors. Last but certainly not least is that old bugbear, stress.
Traditional over-the-counter medications may get rid of the pain once it hits, but they won’t help you have fewer headaches. With nutritional measures, you can take a preventive approach, says Dr. Sheftell.
Which supplement you try will depend on which type of headaches you get and what’s causing them. Each supplement acts in a different way. You can take supplements in combination without any problems, but your best approach, says Dr. Sheftell, is to try one or two at a time until you find the custom formula that works for you.
Try Riboflavin for Migraines
Riboflavin is a benign B vitamin. In super-high doses, it can help ward off a migraine attack by helping the brain cells utilize energy, says Dr. Sheftell.
In a Belgian study of 49 people who frequently got migraines, researchers got good results with daily doses of 400 milligrams of riboflavin. At that dose, about half of the people in the study became migraine-free. Among the others, the intensity of pain was reduced by about 70 percent.
How does riboflavin work? Researchers have found that some people who get migraines may not have enough energy stored in their brain cells. Riboflavin helps the enzymes in the body tap into the energy stored in those cells.
Researchers speculate that flooding the system with riboflavin stirs up more energy in the cells. Helping to regenerate the lethargic cellular energy system defuses the migraine, says Seymour Solomon, M.D., professor of neurology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in the Bronx.
Riboflavin is found in milk. Four glasses will give you the Daily Value of 1.7 milligrams. The doses needed to help prevent migraine are many times higher, however. In fact, since you would need to drink about 62 gallons of milk a day to get the 400-milligram dose that was used in the Belgian study, supplementing is essential.
| A Mineral for Facial Pain It’s not hard to recognize a headache when it’s happening, but what if you’re having pain in your face rather than your head? Frequently, the source of facial pain—sometimes called trifacial neuralgia—is the trigeminal nerve. Known as the great sensory nerve of the head, it comes out of the cranium right above the jaw. The extensions of that nerve form a web across much of your face. If you have inflammation or infection or if the nerve is injured, you might feel the pain signals all around your face. Many people have this kind of facial pain as the result of temporomandibular disorder (TMD), a problem with the temporomandibular joint in the jaw. If your jaw doesn’t line up correctly, it may grind or click whenever you’re chewing and talking. TMD can lead to muscle spasms, pain, and eventually inflammation, which in turn leads to more pain, says Anne McClenon, N.D., a naturopathic doctor at the Compass Family Health Center in Plymouth, Massachusetts. If you have facial pain caused by TMD, try some kind of physical bodywork, suggests Dr. McClenon. Chiropractic, craniosacral therapy, or massage therapy can relax the muscles and allow the joint to line up properly. If this doesn’t help, you may need to see a dentist who specializes in TMD, she says. For TMD, Dr. McClenon also recommends magnesium, which is an effective headache cure. Magnesium is the critical mineral in getting muscles to relax. Take 300 to 350 milligrams a day, suggests Dr. McClenon. “Usually, people take it in the evening so that muscle relaxation hits about bedtime,” she says. “That way, they can get a good night’s sleep.” |
"Almost as a matter of routine, all of our patients are put on riboflavin. We start them on 200 milligrams for a week and then bring them up to 400 milligrams," Dr. Sheftell says.
According to Dr. Sheftell, some people experience nausea when they take as much as 400 milligrams. If that happens, you can just return to the 200-milligram dose. It may take some time to get relief, so stick with the supplements for two to three months before you decide whether they have any benefit, says Dr. Sheftell.
Adding Some Magnesium
Another promising migraine fighter is magnesium. This mineral plays a key role in regulating both blood vessel size and the rate at which cells burn energy. Researchers estimate that 50 percent of migraine sufferers are magnesium deficient, says Burton M. Altura, M.D., professor of physiology and medicine at the State University of New York Health Science Center in Brooklyn. At the center, studies on more than 1,000 migraine sufferers have shown that an intravenous dose of 1,000 milligrams of magnesium sulfate can relieve some acute headache attacks.
Does this mean that you can pop a few magnesium tablets to get rid of a headache? Not quite, but the supplement may be useful in preventing them.
"We believe that everyone should be taking 500 to 600 milligrams of magnesium a day in a combination of diet and supplements," says Dr. Altura. "If people would bring up their total consumption of magnesium, they could reduce the frequency of recurring migraine headaches."
The trouble is, that dose of magnesium has to be absorbed if it’s going to do its job, and absorption can be a challenge. Magnesium supplements often cause diarrhea, says Jacqueline Jacques, N.D., a naturopathic doctor and specialist in pain management in Portland, Oregon. This all-too-common side effect is a sign that the supplement is not being absorbed.
If you want to get the most from a magnesium supplement and minimize the chance of diarrhea, Dr. Jacques advises taking magnesium glycinate instead of magnesium oxide or magnesium chloride. Magnesium glycinate is a form that is readily absorbed, which means two things. First, it can go right to work and do what it is supposed to do—prevent constriction of the blood vessels in your brain and scalp. Second, since it is easily absorbed, it spends less time in the gut and is less likely to cause loose stools.
Feed on Feverfew
Don’t wait until you’re hurting to take feverfew, says Dr. Sheftell. A cousin of dandelion and marigold, feverfew has long been used to prevent headaches of all kinds, but medical doctors took little notice of this folk remedy until 1985. That was the year that a British survey of 270 migraine sufferers found that 70 percent had fewer headaches and less pain when they ate feverfew leaves daily.
"It’s important to understand that when you use a remedy preventively, it takes a fair amount of time to evaluate its effectiveness," says Dr. Sheftell. "You need to take 125 milligrams of feverfew every day for about six to eight weeks."
Pain Relief from Fatty Acids
If you’re not getting the relief you need from other pharmaceuticals and supplements, you might try adding omega-3 essential fatty acids to your diet. Found in high amounts in fish oil and flaxseed oil, these key fats provide eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). This nearly unpronounceable substance changes your body chemistry so that your body produces fewer chemicals that increase sensitivity to pain and cause constriction of the blood vessels. Thus, you conquer the pain and also counteract the cause. In addition, EPA reduces serotonin activity.
In studies, EPA seems to be effective in people who have migraines. Several studies in the 1980s suggested that in some people, migraines can be prevented by taking high doses of fish oil. In one, at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, eight people with severe migraines took 15 grams of fish oil daily. At the end of a six-week period, it was found that they had about half their usual number of migraines when they were taking the supplement.
There’s also a good chance that you’ll get fewer migraines, and less intense ones, if you take one to two tablespoons of flaxseed oil every day, says Brent Mathieu, N.D., a naturopathic doctor in Boise, Idaho. Although you could see an improvement in as little as a few days, four to eight weeks is more typical.
Flaxseed oil contains a substance that the body converts to EPA, so it is an indirect source of the important omega-3 fatty acid. "Fresh, cold-pressed flaxseed oil is the best natural source of omega-3 fatty acids," says David Perlmutter, M.D., a neurologist in Naples, Florida, and author of Lifeguide. For some people, however, fish oil may work better because it is a ready-made source of EPA.
If you take fish oil, take 1,000 to 2,000 milligrams a day in divided doses with meals, says Dr. Mathieu. The capsules sometimes cause unpleasant, fishy-tasting burping unless you take them with food.
An Herbal Massage
When your head is in the viselike grip of a tension headache, take small doses of an herbal supplement that includes a mixture of valerian, passionflower, and skullcap, says Priscilla Evans, N.D., a naturopathic doctor at the Community Wholistic Health Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. This trio of herbs can help relax muscles in your shoulders, neck, and scalp. "Valerian is great for relaxing the nervous system, relieving tension, and providing general pain relief. Passionflower and skullcap help to calm stress," she says.
While antidepressants are often prescribed for people who frequently get tension headaches, herbs can offer benefits as well. The natural supplements are useful tools for stress management, says Dr. Evans.
If you anticipate a stressful period that could trigger a tension headache, these soothing herbs can help minimize the impact. Stick with the manufacturer’s recommendations if you choose a ready-mixed supplement. Typical instructions are to take 225 milligrams with meals or water twice a day. If you’re using a tincture that combines the three herbs, take 10 drops three or four times a day, says Dr. Evans.
Better Than Aspirin
For pain relief from tension headache, use a supplement of white willow bark. This is the same salicylate-containing herb that led to the development of aspirin, says Dr. Mathieu. For effective relief, take one or two 400-milligram doses of dried bark capsules every two to four hours as needed.
If willow bark and aspirin both have the same components—salicylates—why not just take an aspirin? "Willow bark is naturally buffered and acts gently, so it generally does not upset and irritate the stomach," Dr. Mathieu says.
The herb also contains small amounts of vitamin C and quercetin and other bioflavonoids, which combine with the salicylate to relieve both pain and inflammation. The trade-off is that it’s hard to regulate the dosage with herbs. "There’s a wide variation in the quality of the plant and how it was prepared, so you never know exactly how much of the active substance you’re getting," says Dr. Mathieu.
Although its active ingredients are less concentrated than the drugstore product, you shouldn’t take willow bark if you are allergic to aspirin, says Dr. Mathieu.
