Millions of Americans, most of them women, suffer from migraines – a painful, debilitating headache that can make people want to curl up in a ball on their beds. The most prevalent method of treating these headaches is to use “migraine” medications.

But what’s shocking is that these medications never treat the underlying cause of the migraine, and many of them list “rebound headaches” as a side effect. While they may help some people control migraines, for many, the medications actually cause more headaches, among a long list of other side effects.

Many sufferers spin into a vicious cycle of headaches and popping a combination of migraine medicines and pain pills on which they can easily become dependent.

It doesn’t have to be that way. The naturopathic treatment of migraine headaches is remarkable for the fact that the headache itself is not the main focus of treatment. When the underlying causes, or triggers, are identified and eliminated the headache resolves.

Here is a story that plays out every day in clinics across the country - “Susan” goes to see her doctor and complains of debilitating headaches, fatigue, aching neck pain, and severe pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS). The doctor takes ten minutes and diagnoses "migraines" and puts her on anti-migraine medication – for life. She now only gets two to three migraines per month. However, her other complaints were never addressed and she still sleeps poorly and is tired, still has PMS, and is still effected by the headaches – even though they’re not as frequent.

Simply going on migraine medication has relieved some of her pain but never addressed the reason why she gets her migraines. Susan’s symptoms of PMS, muscle tension, and fatigue are actually clues that can help determine the cause of her headaches.

Here’s why. A simple way of understanding migraines is to consider the two factors that lead to almost every headache:

Triggers

Common triggers include food sensitivities, hormone imbalances, chronic muscle tension in the neck and shoulders, caffeine abuse, blood sugar swings, and, ironically, rebound headaches from pain medications used to treat headaches. Often a person has multiple triggers that, when stacked on top of each other, create a "trigger load" that set a migraine in motion.

Threshold

The point at which a headache starts is called the “migraine threshold," which is uniquely individual and largely hereditary. For some people, the threshold may be quite low, whereas others may be able to tolerate a tall stack of triggers before having any headache symptoms.

A typical naturopathic treatment plan for migraines would therefore include both decreasing a patient’s triggers, and increasing their threshold.

The first step is to work closely with the patient to determine and eliminate the biggest triggers that are unique to their body and lifestyle. For many people simply eliminating muscle tension in the neck and upper back and balancing hormones makes a significant difference in the number and severity of headaches.

The next step, often done simultaneously, is to introduce simple herbs, such as Butterbur, and supplements like magnesium to raise the patient’s threshold safely and effectively without medication so that they can tolerate more triggers before a headache would otherwise start.

This approach to treating migraines requires a close collaboration between patient and doctor, and gives the patient the tools they need to be in control of their own body – and their body’s response to stressors that trigger migraines.

Rather than inducing side effects that can themselves be debilitating and lead to more headaches, naturopathic medicine seeks to treat migraines in a way that produces "side benefits” such as increased energy, better sleep, decreased menstrual symptoms and improved mood – not mention a dramatic decrease in migraines.

Dr. Dawson Farr is a naturopathic physician in practice at Vida Family Medicine in Salem. He will be giving a public lecture on naturopathic treatment of migraine headaches at the Salem Library on March 2 at 7:30 pm.